Envoys reaction to missing persons issue regrettable interference: FO

ISLAMABAD: The foreign office has described as regrettable the interference by the Norway and EU ambassadors over the issue of Balochistan’s missing persons and said Pakistan is fully capable of managing its affairs and protecting the rights of its people.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch also termed the reports of India seeking the extradition of Hafiz Saeed co-founder of Lashkar e Tayyaba as ‘speculative’. The spokeswoman was reviewing the achievements of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2023 which saw Pakistan’s international profile increasing and diplomacy succeeding in building relations with countries in all regions of the world with frequent high-level exchanges and visits.

While the Indian Ministry of External Affairs confirmed on Thursday that India had formally requested Pakistan for the extradition of Hafiz Saeed co-founder of Lashkar e Tayyaba, the Spokeswoman was not convinced and responded, “This question is based on speculative reporting and we would not like to comment on speculative reports”, she said.

Discussing the deteriorating relations with India, the spokeswoman admitted that,” There were no major developments in Pakistan-India relations. A Hindutva-inspired nationalist government continues to act as a regional bully and create hurdles in development of normal bilateral relations. Pakistan has consistently maintained that bilateral relations cannot fully normalize until the resolution of the outstanding disputes, especially the core dispute of Jammu and Kashmir”. She said India continued to use its military might to suppress the people of IIOJK. Throughout the year, Pakistan raised its voice for the people of Kashmir at all relevant bilateral and regional forums. We also categorically rejected the Indian Supreme Court’s judgement on the status of Jammu and Kashmir.

Pakistan also condemned India’s decision of Indian occupation authorities to declare the Muslim League Jammu Kashmir (Masarrat Alam faction) [MLJK-MA], as an “unlawful association”, for a period of five years. The party is led by a prominent Kashmiri leader, Masarrat Alam Bhatt, who has been imprisoned for over 20 years. “The MLJK-MA is the fifth Kashmiri party banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front, Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir, Dukhtaraan-e-Millat, and Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party have already been outlawed. Their leadership is being relentlessly persecuted through prolonged detention and confiscation of properties. The Office of All Parties Hurriyat Conference in Srinagar was also sealed, early this year”, she reminded the media.

To a query on the mishandling by Islamabad police of the Baloch missing persons protests and the reaction on X from the Ambassadors of Norway and European Union in support of the Baloch protesters, the spokeswoman said that Pakistan found the ambassadors’ reaction ‘regrettable’. “First of all, the Constitution of Pakistan guarantees freedom of assembly and expression and there are laws in place for Pakistan to deal with such cases internally. Our courts are independent and have taken decisions in this regard on several occasions. As far as the interference of foreign embassies in Pakistan’s internal affairs is concerned, that is regrettable, and our response to those embassies is that Pakistan is fully capable of managing its own affairs and protecting the rights of its people”, said the Spokeswoman.

To a question, she did not agree that Pakistan’s bilateral relations with other states hinged on pleasing any other state and rubbished a query saying Pakistan was diplomatically under pressure by the United States to keep away from China and get closer with India and resolve issues. “Pakistan and the United States are engaged in advancing dialogue in a number of areas, as I highlighted in my opening remarks. We will continue to further enhance our relationship with the United States.

As I said earlier, Pakistan is committed to a peaceful neighbourhood. We would like to have peaceful relations with all countries in the region, including with India. We have said that the environment for peace and dialogue must be created and India should take steps for the creation of this environment. Our dialogue with India, whenever it takes place, will be based on equality, on mutual respect and with the Jammu and Kashmir dispute as a priority issue for Pakistan”, she explained.

Highlighting the diplomatic efforts in 2023 that led to increasing Pakistan’s international profile and building relations with countries in all regions of the world with frequent high-level exchanges and visits particularly to China, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and the wider Islamic world. “We continued to reinforce our additional partnerships with these countries and our relationships are based on mutual trust and friendship and characterized by a tradition of robust dialogue and exchange of bilateral visits”, the spokeswoman said.

The feather in the cap appears to be the Pakistan-GCC agreement to conclude a free trade agreement which will be the first such Free Trade Agreement (FTA) concluded by the GCC with any country, though the spokeswoman did not give details of this trade agreement.

Pakistani diplomats’ hard work abroad saw successes in the face of tough competition with the result that Pakistan won elections of several important multilateral bodies and institutions including membership of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC); Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); Executive Council of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission; Executive Council of the OPCW; Vice-Chair of UNESCO Executive Board; and Chair of the Conference of Parties of Chemical Weapons Convention.

Another high point of 2023 for Pakistan was when in March, the European Union removed Pakistan from the list of high-risk countries recognizing Pakistan’s performance in overcoming technical issues in its anti-money laundering / countering financing of terrorism. The spokeswoman touched upon Pakistan’s biggest trade partner, the United States with whom bilateral relations,” continued to advance bilateral dialogue and cooperation. In addition to exchange of high-level visits and meetings, the two countries held 9th TIFA Ministerial Council and dialogues on Climate Change and Environment; Health, Energy security; Counter-Terrorism, and Defence”, she said.

Pakistan-Russia relations, she said maintained a positive trajectory as they exchanged several high-level visits. The Inter-Governmental Commission on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation and bilateral political consultations were also held during the year.

Regarding Afghanistan, she pointed out Pakistan’s participation in meetings and mechanisms aimed at promoting peace in Afghanistan. “Pakistan also remained committed to dialogue and engagement with Afghanistan as the two countries continue to explore avenues of cooperation, especially in economic domain. We also remain engaged with Afghan authorities on issues related to security and border management”, she added.

The MOFA spokeswoman described 2023 as a significant year for Pakistan-Iran relations. In May 2023, the two sides inaugurated the ‘Mand-Pishin Border Sustenance Marketplace’ and ‘220 kV Polan-Gabd Electricity Transmission Line’ projects. They agreed to institutionalize bilateral economic consultations and signed the five-year Strategic Trade Cooperation Plan (2023-28) in June that envisages achieving a bilateral trade target of US $ 5 billion.