ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office on Monday asked all stakeholders to move on after the country’s top security body ruled out any foreign conspiracy and rest aside the controversy generated by a cypher telegram from a former Pakistani ambassador to the United States (US), saying it was “undermining and complicating” Islamabad’s external relations with partner countries.
Waving a purported letter in a public gathering in Islamabad on March 27, former prime minister Imran Khan claimed for the first time a foreign “conspiracy” was behind the vote of no confidence (VoNC) moved against him by the then opposition. The conspiracy was orchestrated by the US to remove him from power for pursuing an independent foreign policy for Pakistan and visiting Russia despite Washington’s concerns, he said.
Khan convened the National Security Committee (NSC) meeting on March 31 to discuss the content of the telegram sent by the then Pakistan ambassador in Washington, Asad Majeed Khan, after his meeting with US Under Secretary Donald Lu. While the committee did not endorse Khan’s claim of a “conspiracy,” it termed the language used by the US official as “undiplomatic” and amounting to “blatant interference” in the internal affairs of Pakistan.
Khan was removed from the office after a successful VoNC and Shehbaz Sharif became the new prime minister of Pakistan. PM Sharif again called the NSC meeting on April 22 to discuss the telegram issue, which concluded that no evidence of a foreign conspiracy was found in Khan’s removal.
“We feel that the categorical statement from the NSC, which was based on briefings and assessments from all stakeholders where a conspiracy has been ruled out and it should put to rest this matter,” Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, the foreign office spokesperson, told reporters at a media briefing on Monday.
“Such episodes do carry the potential of undermining our diplomacy and complicating our external relations because the elements of trust and confidentiality are central to conducting diplomacy in any country.”
It was time to move on so that Pakistani diplomats could get back to improving the country’s relations in the best interest of Pakistan, the spokesperson said.
“The United States is a key partner of Pakistan and both sides are keen to build on this long-standing relationship between the two countries and to further strengthen and diversify it,” he added.
Ahmad said it was quite clear that the matter had been adequately and sufficiently discussed and addressed in the NSC meetings of the NSC and the committee has ruled out any conspiracy behind the regime change in Pakistan in its categorical statement.
On the démarche sent to the US, he said the foreign office took the action on the directions of the country’s leadership. “Démarches were issued in Islamabad and Washington on the direction of the NSC meeting held on March 31,” he added.
To a question about the accusation that the communication from the ambassador was initially withheld from the then foreign minister, the foreign office spokesperson said such assertions were unfounded and there was no possibility of holding back something like an official telegram.
“It was a cypher telegram which is an accountable and classified document whose handling and access is strictly as per the relevant instructions and procedures,” he said. “The cypher telegram was duly received at the foreign office and immediately distributed to the relevant authorities.”
He dispelled the rumors that any inquiry or action had been taken against Ambassador Asad Majeed Khan, who sent the cable.
“The ambassador has completed his term in Washington and already been assigned another duty in Brussels (Pakistan’s ambassador to European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg) and he will proceed to his new assignment as announced,” Ahmad clarified.
Pakistan’s foreign office says telegram issue ‘undermining’ external ties, urges to move on
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Pakistan’s foreign office says telegram issue ‘undermining’ external ties, urges to move on
- Based on a cypher telegram, ex-PM Khan claimed the US orchestrated his removal through a no-trust vote
- Foreign office says the National Security Committee ruled out any conspiracy, rests aside the controversy
Pakistan says Afghanistan has created conditions ‘similar to or worse than’ pre-9/11 attacks
- The statement followed a suicide blast at a mosque in Islamabad that killed over 30, injured 169
- Pakistan frequently accuses the Afghan Taliban of backing militants, an allegation denied by Kabul
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s president has warned that the Taliban’s government in Afghanistan has created conditions “similar to or worse than” those before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, a sign of rising tensions with Kabul after last week’s mosque attack in Islamabad, which analysts said Monday highlights militants’ reach to the capital.
Asif Ali Zardari made the remarks while thanking the international community for condemning Friday’s suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque that killed 31 worshippers and wounded 169. Without directly blaming India, Zardari also said Pakistan’s eastern neighbor was “assisting the Taliban regime and threatening not only Pakistan but regional and global peace.”
In a statement issued Sunday, Zardari said Pakistan “takes strong exception to the situation in Afghanistan where the Taliban regime has created conditions similar to or worse than pre-9/11, when terror organizations posed threats to global peace.” He added that Pakistan had long maintained terrorism cannot be confronted by any single country in isolation.
The unusually strong comments were likely to irk Kabul and New Delhi, both of which have condemned the suicide attack claimed by Daesh (Islamic State) and have denied any involvement.
The previous Afghan Taliban government, which ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, had been blamed for sheltering the Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden who was behind the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks that killed more than 3,000 people in the United States. The Afghan Taliban also allowed Al-Qaeda to operate training camps within Afghanistan, despite international warnings. However, bin Laden was killed during a US commando operation in Pakistan in May 2011.
Last week, Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry and New Delhi, in separate statements, rejected the Pakistani allegations, saying Islamabad had irresponsibly linked them to the attack.
Pakistan frequently accuses the Afghan Taliban, who returned to power in August 2021 in Afghanistan, of backing militants including the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Both deny the accusations.
There was no immediate response from India or Afghanistan to Zardari’s latest allegations, which came after Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said the bomber involved in the attack was a Pakistani and trained by Daesh in Afghanistan.
Naqvi said security forces had arrested four suspects, including an Afghan national accused of links to the militant group and of helping mastermind the attack. The detainees included the bomber’s mother and brother-in-law, according to officials who said investigations into the attack were still ongoing.
Pakistan has not shared full details about the involvement of the bomber’s family, however.
On Monday, Naqvi received telephone calls from his Italian counterpart Matteo Piantedosi and European Commissioner Magnus Brunner, who condemned the mosque attack. According to a government statement, Naqvi maintained that “Pakistan is a shield for the world against terrorism and emphasized that strong global-level measures are needed today to protect the world from terrorism”.
Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s former special representative for Afghanistan, said Zardari’s warning was “unambiguous: terrorism thrives where it is tolerated, facilitated, or used as a proxy.”
He wrote on X that “allowing terrorist groups to operate from Afghan soil and India’s use of proxies to destabilize Pakistan is a dangerous path with grave regional and global consequences.” Durrani added, “Peace demands responsibility, not denial.”
Another Islamabad-based analyst, Abdullah Khan, said the preliminary findings into the mosque bombing suggest the attack may reflect a pattern seen in some IS attacks involving close family networks. He said the IS affiliates have at times recruited entire families, pointing to past attacks in Pakistan and Indonesia.
Although Islamabad has seen fewer attacks than some other regions, Pakistan has experienced a recent rise in militant violence, much of it attributed to Baloch separatist groups and the TTP, which is separate from but allied with Afghanistan’s Taliban.
Daesh’s regional affiliate, a major Taliban rival, has carried out attacks across Afghanistan.
