FO shrugs off Trump’s aide statement about Imran

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office (FO) spokeswoman on Thursday, when asked about the comments of a designated adviser to the forthcoming Trump administration Richard Grenell who has demanded the release of PTI leader Imran Khan, did not give much importance to his statements.

The FO spokeswoman said that she would not comment on anyone commenting or making statements in their individual capacity. However, Pakistan hoped that all officials would contribute to the objective of positive relations between Pakistan and the United States.

“We will continue to engage with officials and public personalities in the United States and discuss with them issues of mutual interest and mutual concern. Pakistan has said on multiple occasions that we would like to have positive, constructive relations with the United States on the basis of mutual respect, mutual interest and non-interference in each other’s domestic affairs,” she stated.

Pakistan continued to engage with the United States to promote bilateral understanding.

“United States remains the largest export market for Pakistani products. The two countries reached substantive understandings on trade, investment, energy, health, education, agriculture, climate change and counter terrorism,” she added.

The FO spokeswoman refrained from commenting directly and avoided confirmation on whether Pakistan had carried out airstrikes in Afghanistan’s Paktika province on Tuesday night. The army has also, so far, not officially commented on the development.

Pakistan, said the FO, is committed to the security of its people and in this context Pakistan’s security and law enforcement personnel conduct operations in the border areas to protect the people of Pakistan from terror groups, including TTP but would always prioritise diplomacy while dealing with Afghanistan.

The spokeswoman at the Foreign Office during the weekly media briefing, without making a direct reference to Tuesday’s airstrikes, explained that these operations are carefully selected and are based on authentic and concrete intelligence.

“We respect the sovereignty of Afghanistan. We have always prioritised dialogue and cooperation with Afghanistan to confront the terror threat. We hope that Afghanistan will prevent the use of its territory for any terror attacks against Pakistan. We believe that terrorist groups like TTP are a collective threat to regional peace and security. It is, therefore, important for us to work together to combat the threat posed by TTP,” she emphasised.

Pakistan, she pointed out always believed in dialogue and diplomacy and always prioritised diplomacy in its relations with Afghanistan, despite the presence of terror hideouts and sanctuaries and the consistent threat they pose to Pakistan.

While commenting on Pakistan’s relations with India in 2024, the spokeswoman pointed out that in South Asia, Pakistan continued to pursue a policy of peaceful neighborhood, based on mutual respect, sovereign equality and mutual benefit.

“Notwithstanding the difficulties in bilateral relations, the Ceasefire Understanding of 2003, reaffirmed in February 2021, was upheld at the Line of Control in the interest of regional peace. The two sides also renewed the Kartarpur Corridor Agreement for another five years. Visits of thousands of Indian pilgrims to different shrines in Pakistan were also organised under the Bilateral Protocol of 1974,” she recalled.