Pakistani MPs reject US lawmakers’ letter as ‘unwarranted’

ISLAMABAD: In a tit-for-tat response, almost 160 Pakistani lawmakers have written to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, expressing concerns over a letter from the US Congress members to President Joe Biden that called for the release of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan.

“We write to express our concerns over the unwarranted and inaccurate commentary on Pakistan’s domestic politics by 62 Members of the US House of Representatives,” the letter stated, describing the US lawmakers’ stance as a “skewed view of realities”.

Signed by 160 ruling alliance parliamentarians, including top leaders of major political parties, the letter argued that the US lawmakers’ appeal to President Biden amounted to “external interference”, which unfairly amplified the political narrative of a single party at the expense of Pakistan’s state institutions and other political groups.

The response comes after US lawmakers urged President Biden to use “substantial leverage with Pakistan’s government to secure the release of political prisoners including former prime minister Khan”.

The letter also made an appeal for US embassy officials to visit Khan, who is currently behind bars at Adiala jail and has been imprisoned at the said facility for more than a year now. The Pakistani lawmakers’ response lamented the US Congressmen’s letter for being “influenced by blatant disinformation peddled by adherents of same political party” and called for examining “political motives behind the campaign to discredit credible political process in Pakistan and undermine its democratic institutions”.

Noting that the country grapples with the challenges of the post-truth era, which have been further complicated by politics of cult-followership and polarisation, the legislators said: “Gross misuse of social media as a tool for Digital Terrorism remains a proclivity to rouse unrest and threaten the state, while the lead role in this negative campaign is being unfortunately undertaken by dissident elements residing in the US and the United Kingdom.”

Blaming the PTI founder for introducing political violence and criminal intimidation against state institutions, the letter alleged that the incarcerated ex-PM had been “inciting assaults on Islamabad and Lahore to cause anarchy and violence”.

Stressing that the US lawmakers’ conduct and views regarding the February 8 polls were “equally misinformed and one-sided,” the communique to PM Shehbaz maintained that the Khan-founded party was consistently making efforts to malign the electoral process. “Commentary on sub-judice cases by members of Congress is likely to unfairly influence the judicial process in Pakistan,” it warned.

Highlighting that dragging other countries into the domestic electoral fray to satisfy a small segment of the electorate is ill-advised, the parliamentarians — in an apparent reference to the cipher case saga — said that a similar misuse of diplomatic communication for political advantage by the same caused one of the most serious crises in current history of Pakistan-US relations.

“It is ironic that respected members of US Congress tend to ignore the testimony of Assistant Secretary of State, Donald Lu in which he blamed for orchestrating a campaign based on ‘complete falsehood’,” reads the letter while referring to Khan’s claim of blaming his ouster as PM on a conspiracy orchestrated by Washington.

“We wish to respect the political process in the US and express our commitment to work with the new administration formed as a result of coming elections. Concurrently, we rightfully expect the same to be acknowledged and respected by US lawmakers as well,” it added.

Additionally, the lawmakers urged the government to direct the diplomatic mission in Washington to engage the members of the Pakistani caucus in US Congress as well as signatories of the letter to highlight the correct perspective on the issue and caution them from falling prey to unsubstantiated political propaganda against Islamabad.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Foreign Office expressed its surprise over German Ambassador Alfred Grannas’ letter written directly to Pakistan Army chief on the issue of five independent power producers (IPPs) of German company Siemens in Pakistan.

“We have seen the media reports about this letter and we do not understand the rationale of such communications from any embassy, without taking into confidence the relevant ministries that deal with this issue,” the FO spokeswoman responded to a question by the media.

She also termed the statement of Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong at a seminar titled ‘China at 75’ this week, “perplexing” in view of the positive diplomatic traditions between Pakistan and China. “We will continue to engage with our Chinese brothers to reassure them of Pakistan’s complete commitment to their security and well-being in Pakistan,” said the spokeswoman at the Foreign Office during the weekly presser.

She was responding to Ambassador Jian Zaidong remarks in which he pointed out that security was the biggest constraint to CPEC and without safe and sound environment, nothing could be achieved. In a damage-control mode, the spokeswoman stated that Chinese nationals in Pakistan are our valued guests. “They are making invaluable contribution to development of Pakistan. As the deputy prime minister outlined in the same seminar on Tuesday, Pakistan is committed to providing full security to Chinese nationals, projects and institutions in Pakistan,” she added.

Pakistan, the spokeswoman pointed out, had reaffirmed its strong commitment to provision of security of Chinese workers, projects and institutions in Pakistan. “This reaffirmation and commitment have been given at the leadership level between the two sides and with regards to any discussions that the two sides are having bilaterally to ensure the safety and security of Chinese nationals in Pakistan, I would not be able to comment because these are sensitive matters and bilateral matters between Pakistan and China,” she said.

The spokeswoman agreed with the Chinese ambassador that there had been some very unfortunate incidents with regard to Chinese nationals in Pakistan. “We understand the concerns of the Chinese people, the Chinese government and the Chinese Embassy, with regard to the concerns about the safety and security of their people. Pakistan has shared evidence with regards to several strands of investigation of previous incidents, and we continue to engage with our Chinese brothers with regards to these investigations. I will not be sharing details of these investigations at this stage,” she added.

On accusations from the Canadian government that Indian Home Minister Amit Shah was directly involved in the assassination of Sikhs on Canadian soil, the spokeswoman said she did not want to comment on bilateral exchanges between other countries. “However, as far as India’s extraterritorial and extrajudicial killings are concerned, you are aware that Pakistan has voiced its concerns and shared concrete evidence earlier this year. We hope the international community will urge India to refrain from its activities of extra-territorial and extrajudicial killings in Pakistan and around the world,” she said.

Afghan Charge d’Affaires in Pakistan Sardar Ahmad Shakib’s remarks that Pakistan should negotiate with the TTP were not well received by the spokeswoman, who rejected outright the offer. “We reject any offers or advice with regard to dialogue between Pakistan and TTP. We have done that on several occasions, and I am reiterating what we have said on numerous occasions in the past. Pakistan has absolutely no interest in talks with terror groups who are responsible for murder of Pakistani civilians and law-enforcement officials,” she said.

“In fact, Pakistan believes that such recommendations and advice are an affront to people, who have lost their loved ones because of the activities of TTP. “Secondly, we believe that the Afghan authorities have the primary responsibility to take action against the terror groups, primarily TTP, that are based in Afghanistan. We have provided them concrete evidence with regard to their activities and the terror apparatus that they run in Pakistan. Thirdly, Pakistan believes that any decrees that are issued should extend to all individuals who have found refuge inside Afghanistan,” she added.

In this regard, the message for Kabul was that the Afghan authorities should take action against the terror groups. “And you may have seen that this is not just the demand of Pakistan, but the countries of Moscow Format also made similar demand on the Government of Afghanistan that they take concrete action against these terror groups and prevent the Afghan soil from being used against its neighbours,” she stated.