Pakistan trashes ‘unwarranted, misleading’ US-India statement

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office (FO) on Friday termed the joint US-India statement — issued against Pakistan after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President Joe Biden a day earlier — “misleading and unwarranted”, saying that the “reference is contrary to diplomatic norms and has political overtones”.

In an apparent bid to use the visit to further India’s agenda against Islamabad, a joint statement issued by the two heads of state late on Thursday called on Pakistan to crack down on extremists that target New Delhi.

Responding to media queries regarding the statement on Friday, the FO Spokesperson, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, said: “We consider the Pakistan-specific reference in the Joint Statement from the United States and India, issued on 22 June 2023, as unwarranted, one-sided, and misleading.

“The reference is contrary to diplomatic norms and has political overtones. We are surprised that it has been added despite Pakistan’s close counterterrorism cooperation with the US.”

She recalled that Pakistan had rendered unmatched sacrifices in the fight against terrorism and in doing so the law enforcement agencies and armed forces had set an example. “The people of Pakistan are the real heroes in this fight,” the FO spokesperson highlighted, adding that the international community had time and again recognised Pakistan’s efforts and sacrifices in the fight against terrorism.

“It has long concluded that terrorism can be defeated through concerted and cooperative actions. Today, we fail to see how the assertions made in the joint statement could strengthen the international resolve to fight terrorism. The statement shows that the cooperative spirit, so vitally needed to defeat the scourge of terrorism, has been sacrificed at the altar of geopolitical considerations,” she said.

Zahra noted, “India, in addition to being a state-sponsor of terrorism, habitually uses terrorism bogey to deflect attention from its brutal repression of Kashmiri people in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, and maltreatment of its minorities. It is thus completely ill-placed to cast any aspersions on Pakistan and its fight against terrorism.

“Ironically, the joint statement fails to address the key sources of tension and instability in the region and to take cognizance of the grave human rights situation in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK). This is tantamount to abdication of international responsibility,” the spokesperson pointed out.

The Foreign Office spokesperson added that Pakistan was deeply concerned over “the planned transfer of advanced military technologies to India”, saying that such steps “are accentuating military imbalance in the region and undermining strategic stability”.

They remain unhelpful in achieving the objective of durable peace in South Asia, Zahra said. “We urge our international partners to take a holistic and objective view of the issues of peace and security in South Asia and refrain from endorsing one-sided positions,” she added.

Earlier, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, on the floor of the National Assembly, took a strong exception to the mention of Pakistan in a joint statement issued after a meeting between US President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Rebuking the United States and India for issuing a joint statement calling on Pakistan to ensure that its territory is not used to launch extremist attacks, Asif pointed out “the irony of this statement coming during the visit of someone who was banned entry to the US for overseeing a pogrom of Muslims when he was CM Gujarat”.

Lamenting the actions of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a tweet, the minister said that “he leads yet another campaign of state-sponsored terrorism in Kashmir, which includes routinely maiming and blinding the local population.

“Across the rest of the country, Modi’s acolytes lynch Muslims, Christians, and other minorities, with impunity,” he added.

The defence minister also stressed that “Pakistan has lost countless lives, and has been continuously at war with terrorism for decades now, owing to failed American interventions in the region.

“Perhaps President Biden should consider these facts the next time he fetes the Butcher of Gujarat,” Asif said.

Turning to the relations with the United States, Khawaja Asif said Pakistan today is paying a heavy price for serving as a frontline state in the two Afghan wars. He said terrorism entered Pakistan because it acted as an ally of the United States in the war on terrorism. He regretted that the sacrifices of Pakistan and the fight against terrorism after 9/11 were also not acknowledged. The defence minister said elections are due in the country and whosoever forms the next government, should pursue stable relations with the United States and the neighbouring countries. He stressed that Pakistan should leverage its geographical location.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, while speaking in the National Assembly, urged major powers not to make the war on terrorism controversial and a victim of their geopolitics.

Commenting on the joint statement issued after a meeting between US President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said the international community should take this menace seriously as it is only through collective efforts that the scourge could be eliminated.

He regretted that the focus of the world has shifted from terrorism to the Ukraine conflict. “I don’t believe there is any reason for Pakistan to be insecure about its relationship with the world or its bilateral partnership with America as a result of increasingly close cooperation between the US and India,” the foreign minister said. He added that Pakistan was standing on its own feet yesterday and is still standing today.

Pakistan, he further said, would move forward on its own as per the people’s aspirations, not because in the US-India joint statement, “terrorism was mentioned and Pakistan would take action”. He also reminded the world that Pakistan is the most affected nation by terrorism, even if the casualties of India, the US, Iran and the rest of the world is counted.

“Due to our national security and the people’s future, we want to fight terrorism. We have before on the people’s mandate we took up this issue in 2008 and defeated them,” Bilawal said.

However, he added that the policies of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government “pushed back” Islamabad. “And once again this issue is a problem for us and today it is our problem and God forbid might become a problem for some other country. We want to fight [terrorism] for our reasons and to establish peace in our country,” he went on to say.

The foreign minister said Pakistan is the biggest victim of terrorism as it suffered more casualties than any other country in the world. He said it is in the interest of Pakistan to eliminate terrorism and extremism for the peace, stability and prosperity of its own people.

Regarding trials of civilians in military courts, the foreign minister said those involved in attacking the military installations and the memorials of martyrs do not deserve any leniency. He said there are provisions in the law for those involved in such heinous acts to be tried in military courts. It is the responsibility of parliament, government and judiciary to establish the writ of the state.

“We will have to present a roadmap for political and economic stability in the country by also involving the reconcilable opposition members and will have to agree on bare minimum agenda for the sake of the country.”

The country’s top diplomat told parliamentarians that he believes it is important for Pakistan to stay away from world politics and focus on itself. He added once political stability and economic issues are resolved, then Pakistan can achieve its “international targets in the world”.