ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs on Thursday censured Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif for his statement during his visit to the United States and summoned him to clarify his position in its next meeting.
Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif, during an interaction in the US, had suggested that the country must put its house in order and that Pakistan needs to do more for dealing with the Haqqani network and Hafiz Saeed. Members of the committee were of the view that Asif’s statement mocked the sacrifices made by the army in its fight against terrorism and also supported the new US policy on South Asia and its demand for Islamabad to “do more”.
The committee wondered whose interests was the foreign minister protecting by making such statements. Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s Shireen Mazari reiterated her party’s stance saying if the foreign minister kept on giving such statements, Pakistan does not need an external enemy. The committee also directed the secretary foreign affairs to brief the committee on the government’s new policy regarding the US.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Office appeared to be in a damage control mode and tried to clarify some very startling statements allegedly made by Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif during an interview with the Asia Society in New York and commented at length on the wrong photograph used recently at the United Nations by Pakistan’s permanent representative. The fresh controversy appears to be the outcome of a meeting between Pakistan’s foreign minister and the Afghan National Security Adviser Mohammad Hanif Atmar, held recently in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
“The Indian media is again twisting the foreign minister’s comments to spread falsehood,” Spokesman at the Foreign Office commented when asked for his response to a query on Asif’s remarks regarding the Indian spy Kulbushan Jadhev. The international media had quoted the foreign minister as saying that the Afghan National Security Adviser offered Pakistan to exchange self-confessed Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav with a terrorist involved in the 2014 attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar.
“The Afghan government has admitted that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has safe havens on Afghan soil and it operates from there. The terrorist who killed children in APS Peshawar, is in Afghan custody.
“The national security adviser told me that we can exchange him for the terrorist you have, which is Kulbhushan Jadhav,” the foreign minister was quoted as saying.Earlier, Khawaja Muhammad Asif had told a press conference in New York that he had a meeting with the national security adviser of Afghanistan during which several issues of mutual concern were taken up. Both the sides agreed to carry forward the talks, and that he has been invited to visit Kabul.
The spokesman clarified that the foreign minister was referring to anti-Pakistan Indian activities in Afghanistan such as the launch of terrorist attacks in Pakistan with the help of the terrorist outfits based in Afghanistan. “The foreign minister while referring to Pakistan being blamed for providing safe havens to terrorists on its soil named the TTP, JuD, LeJ, and Kulbushan Jhadev, a serving Indian Naval Officer working for RAW. The minister had said that the conclusive confessions made by Commander Kulbushan Jadhev validated Indian state sponsored terrorism and terror financing against Pakistan. A section of the Indian media is again twisting the foreign minister’s comments to spread falsehood”, the spokesman commented. Pakistan, said the spokesman, repeatedly raised the Indian interference and subversive activities in Pakistan.
“The arrest and conviction of Commander Jadhev is the most recent case in point. We have also shared dossiers on Indian involvement with the UNSG and the international community. India needs to behave as a responsible member of the international community and refrain from actions which violate international law and inter-state norms”, the spokesman added.
He pointed out remarks by Indian Professor Bharat Karnad who stressed that India would never sever its relations with TTP not only because TTP is getting financial support from India, but also that TTP is facilitating RAW’s connectivity to terrorist outfits based in Afghanistan.
India over the years, the spokesman added, has played the role of a spoiler in Afghanistan. Under the garb of development assistance, India has used Afghan soil to carry out subversion inside Pakistan. “RAW has developed a clandestine nexus with terrorist groups based in Afghanistan, like TTP, JuD, ETIM etc. These groups are being used to foment unrest and orchestrate terrorist attacks in Pakistan and other regional countries. We have evidence to this effect, which was shared with the US, the Secretary General of the UN and also with the Afghan authorities”, the spokesman pointed out.
Overall, the spokesman said that meetings of the Pakistani leadership with US officials in New York were helpful in allaying misconceptions and bridging gaps. “What emerged from these interactions was the desire on both sides to engage with each other. Against this backdrop, you should be expecting more visits in the near future from both the sides”, he responded to a query.
On the issue of a human error while displaying a wrong photograph at the UN by Pakistan’s permanent representative, the spokesman responded with several reports in the international media on the inhuman face of India while blinding Kashmiris with pellet guns.
The Amnesty International published an exclusive 112-page report entitled “Losing sight in Kashmir: The impact of pellet-firing shot guns” containing pictures of pellet gun victims with their emotions recorded. In its edition of Nov 8, 2016, daily The Guardian said, “There is no recorded instance of a modern democracy systematically and willfully shooting at people to blind them”.
With reference to the use of pellet guns by Indian occupation forces on peaceful Kashmiri protesters in IHK, the New York Times published an article entitled “An Epidemic of Dead Eyes in Kashmir as India Uses Pellet Guns on protesters”. While citing heart-rending scenes of pellet gun victims, as young as 8-year old, the New York Times concluded that “2016 will almost certainly be remembered as the year of dead eyes”.
India, the spokesman said, cannot hide the crimes against humanity committed by its occupation forces in IHK. India cannot deny that around 80 Kashmiris were blinded deliberately by its forces. as well as blinding over 200 innocent Kashmiris in one eye.
India cannot deny injuring thousands of Kashmiris using pellet guns and also murdering around 170 Kashmiris since July 8, 2016. India cannot reject the fact that it deliberately killed innocent civilians while committing unprovoked ceasefire violations in AJK and in the vicinity of Working Boundary. India cannot refute forced disappearances of thousands of Kashmiris.
“If India denies any of these crimes, it should not be afraid of allowing fact finding missions demanded by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, OIC Contact Group on Kashmir, IPHRC, western countries’ parliamentarians and Kashmiris in IHK and AJK. According to an investigative report of the daily “Greater Kashmir” of IHK, the victims of pellet guns are also losing their memory”, the spokesman added.
To a query regarding a recent report of Federation of American Scientists which alleges that Pakistan’s nuclear assets suffer risk of falling into terrorist hands, the spokesman rubbished this assessment. “Pakistan’s Command and Control system as well as its nuclear security regime remains robust and is at par with the international standards. There has never been a single nuclear security incident in the country. Pakistan also works closely with the international community and the IAEA in the areas of nuclear safety and security. In fact, Pakistan is providing nuclear security training to regional countries at its Centre of Excellence for nuclear security”, the spokesman clarified.
