ISLAMABAD: Afghan Consul General Mohibullah Shakir had no intention of disrespecting Pakistan, said a representative of the Afghan diplomatic mission on Tuesday, after the foreign office in Islamabad called it “reprehensible” that he remained seated while the country’s national anthem was played at a conference in Peshawar.
Videos widely circulated on social media showed Shakir attending the Rehmat-ul-Alameen Conference, hosted by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, in which Shakir and another Afghan official can be seen seated as the Pakistani national anthem was played while everyone else in the room stood up in respect.
Pakistan’s foreign office described the act of the Afghan officials as contrary to diplomatic norms, calling it “reprehensible” and stating that Pakistan would convey its strong protest to the Afghan authorities.
“There was no intention to disrespect or dishonor the Pakistani national anthem,” Shahid Ullah, the spokesperson for the Afghan Consulate in Peshawar, told Geo News.
“The Consul general did not stand during the anthem because of the music in it,” he continued, adding that Afghan authorities had banned their own national anthem for the same reason.
The Afghan spokesperson said if the anthem had been performed without music or by children, the Consul general would have definitely stood and placed his hand on his chest.
The Afghan Taliban believe that music is forbidden in Islam, though there are several schools of thought within the same religion that do not agree with their contention.
Traditionally tense relations between Islamabad and Kabul have soured further in recent months amid a surge in militancy in Pakistan that it blames on its neighbor.
Islamabad says militants mainly associated with the Pakistani Taliban group frequently launch attacks from hideouts in Afghanistan, targeting police and other security forces. Islamabad has even blamed Kabul’s Afghan Taliban rulers for facilitating anti-Pakistan militants. Kabul denies the charges.
Last week, Chief Minister Gandapur said he would hold direct talks with Kabul’s Taliban rulers to take action against Afghanistan-based militant groups.

ISLAMABAD: The United States described Pakistan as a “long-term partner” on Tuesday, while acknowledging areas of disagreement, noting that Washington’s recent decision to impose sanctions on commercial entities suspected of aiding Pakistan’s ballistic missile program was one such issue.
The US imposed the sanctions on a Chinese research institute and several companies last week, alleging they had supplied missile-applicable items to Pakistan.
In response, Pakistan criticized Washington for the decision, calling it “biased and politically motivated,” saying similar listings of commercial entities in the past was prepared on mere suspicion and involved items not listed under any export control regime.
Asked about the US decision, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller described it as part of his country’s efforts to strengthen the “international nonproliferation regime by taking action against networks supporting activities of proliferation concern.”
“Pakistan has been a long-term partner of ours, and I think what this action shows is that there continue to be places where we have disagreement, and when we have disagreements, we won’t hesitate to act on those to protect America’s interests,” he said during a media briefing.
“It has been our longstanding policy to deny support to Pakistan’s long-range ballistic missile program, and we will continue to use our sanctions and other – our other tools to ensure our national security cannot be – cannot be impacted, and that the US financial system cannot be used by proliferators,” he added.
Miller said the US executive order action last week followed its October 2023 and April 2024 designation of six Chinese and one Belarusian entity since they were supplying Pakistan’s missile program.
He noted there was a listing of numerous Pakistani and third-country entities on the US Department of Commerce Entity List for decades.
“We have been clear and consistent about our concerns with Pakistan’s ballistic missile program for many years,” he continued.
Pakistan said on Saturday it was widely known that “some countries, while claiming strict adherence to nonproliferation norms, have conveniently waived licensing requirements for advanced military technologies to their favored states.”
“Such double standards and discriminatory practices undermine the credibility of global nonproliferation regimes, increase military asymmetries, and endanger international peace and security,” it added.
China also said it would “firmly protect” the rights and interests of its companies and individuals.
One of its diplomats in Washington noted last week his country opposed “unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction that have no basis in international law or authorization of the UN Security Council.”