SIALKOT: Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif Sunday said that Pakistan is a peace-loving country and keen on establishing cordial relations with its neighboring counties on the basis of equality for maintaining peace in the region.
Talking to APP at his residence, the minister said that our top priority is establishing peace in the country as well as in the region in larger interest of people of the region. But this flexibility and the efforts in this regard should not be underestimated, he added.
Answering a question, the minister said that all-out efforts were being made to develop healthy and durable relations with Afghanistan, Iran, India and Russia as well as other countries of the region.
To another question, the foreign minister said that high-ups of Pakistan and Indian governments are in touch to handle harassment incidents of Pakistani High Commission.
He hoped that efforts in this regard would bear fruit and relationship between the two neighboring countries would become normal.
Pakistan and Russia are enjoying highly cordial relations and Russia is extending cooperation and support to Pakistan in different fields, the foreign minister said, adding that relations between these two countries would be further strengthened with passage of time and both the countries would become closer.
“We want to see Afghanistan as a peaceful and stable country because Pakistan would benefit the most from a peaceful Afghanistan,” he added.
The minister said Pakistan was making hectic efforts for purging the country of menace of terrorism to make it a safe place for its people, adding that Pakistan had rendered great scarifies in the form of precious human lives and suffered economic losses in the war against terrorism.
He said the world should recognize the scarifies rendered by Pakistan in war against terrorism and ignoring the scarifies would be unjust. No country in the world has done more than Pakistan to check the menace of terrorism, he said.
The foreign minister said that megaproject, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), would play an instrumental role in bringing revolutionary changes in the country. He said that the economic stability and prosperity in the country would not only benefit the people of Pakistan but of the region at large.
Foreign Minister: Pakistan wants cordial relations with neighbors
Foreign Minister: Pakistan wants cordial relations with neighbors
Pakistan welcomes Afghan scholars’ reported resolution against use of soil for cross-border attacks
- Around 1,000 Afghan scholars passed a resolution this week prohibiting use of Afghan soil for cross-border attacks against another country, Afghan media reported
- Development takes place as tensions persist between Pakistan and Afghanistan amid Islamabad’s allegations of Taliban supporting cross-border attacks against it
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office spokesperson on Thursday welcomed a resolution reportedly passed by Afghan scholars against allowing the use of Afghan soil for attacks against any other country, but still demanded written assurances of the same from the Afghan leadership.
According to a report published by Afghan news channel Tolo News, around 1,000 Afghan scholars gathered in Kabul on Wednesday to pass a resolution that, among other things, said no one will be allowed to use Afghanistan’s soil against other countries for attacks. The resolution also said that if anyone fails to comply with this decision, the Afghan government has the right to take action against them.
The development takes place as tensions persist between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Both countries have engaged in border clashes since October, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of harboring militants that launch attacks on Pakistan.
Afghanistan denies the allegation and says it cannot be held responsible for Pakistan’s security.
Speaking to reporters during a weekly press briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said he had not seen the full text of the resolution.
“Any developments with regards to the fact that Afghan leadership, the segment of Afghan society, realized the gravity of the situation that their soil is being used by not just TTP, but also by their own nationals to perpetrate terrorism in Pakistan — any realization to this effect is positive and one would certainly welcome it,” Andrabi said.
However, he said similar commitments by Kabul on preventing cross-border attacks have been made in the past but were not honored.
Pakistan and Kabul engaged in a series of peace talks in Istanbul and Doha recently after their deadly border clashes in October. Andrabi pointed out that Islamabad had insisted on getting written assurances from the Afghan leadership that they would prevent Afghan soil from being used by the Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups. However, he said Islamabad had not received any.
He said the resolution by Afghan scholars does not qualify as a proper written assurance from Kabul as it does not explicitly mention Pakistan or the Pakistani Taliban.
’NO FORMAL EXTRADITION TREATY’
Commenting on media reports of Islamabad seeking extradition of certain individuals from the UK, Andrabi confirmed that there exists no formal extradition treaty between Pakistan and the UK. However, he said cases can still be processed individually.
“In the absence of a formal treaty, the extradition cases can be processed on a case-to-case basis,” the FO spokesperson said. “And certain cases were submitted to the British High Commission in Islamabad for their consideration.”
Pakistan last week asked the UK to extradite two prominent pro-Imran Khan figures, former accountability aide Shehzad Akbar and YouTuber-commentator Adil Raja, saying they were wanted on charges of anti-state propaganda.
The issue had been brought up during Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s meeting with British High Commissioner Jane Marriott in Islamabad. The Interior Ministry said Naqvi had formally handed over Pakistan’s extradition documents, requesting that Raja and Akbar be returned to Pakistan without delay.
