Foreign Office Spokesperson Opening Statement for Press Briefing Today

Today is 332nd day of the continued brutalization of innocent people in the Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir; images of which were flashed across the world yesterday depicting the level of callousness and inhumanity meted out by Indian occupation forces. The heart wrenching picture of the three year old boy in Sopore will forever remain seared in the imagination of all those who believe in humanity, human rights and fundamental freedoms. India cannot wash away the truth by fake news and turning its propaganda machinery faster.

On the Line of Control, ceasefire violations by Indian security forces continue unabated. As a result of recent violations and mortar and artillery shelling on the LoC in Kayani and Jura sectors of the LoC, on 29th and 30th June 2020, 16 year old Muhammad Tauheed resident of Talwari village embraced shahadat; and 2 year old Azad Ahmed, 6 year old Aneesa Waqas, 28 year old Siraj Din s/o Nizam Din, 16 year old Sarmad Akram and 42 year old Abdul Qayyum sustained serious injuries.
1546 ceasefire violations in the first 6 months of 2020 have occurred, resulting in 14 shahadats and serious injuries to 114 innocent civilians.

Pakistan has categorically rejected the grant of domicile certificates in Indian occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IOJ&K) by the Indian authorities to reportedly 25,000 Indian nationals. The Kashmiri people have also rejected the bogus domicile certificates. The certificates issued to non-Kashmiris including, among others, the Indian government officials under “Jammu and Kashmir Grant of Domicile Certificate (Procedure), 2020” are illegal, void and in complete violation of the relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions, and International law including the 4th Geneva Convention. The latest action is a vindication of Pakistan’s consistent stance that the major intention behind the Indian Government’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019 was to change the demographic structure of IOJ&K and turn Kashmiris into a minority in their own land. This has long been part of the RSS-BJP’s “Hindutva” agenda.

Yesterday, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi received Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation. Ambassador Khalilzad’s visit to Pakistan was part of his regular engagement for consultations and exchange of views on the Afghan peace and reconciliation process. The Foreign Minister highlighted Pakistan’s positive contribution to the U.S.-Taliban direct talks culminating in the Peace Agreement of 29 February 2020 and stressed that the Afghan leaders should seize this historic opportunity and work together to ensure a comprehensive and inclusive political settlement.

Foreign Minister Qureshi welcomed the latest developments including announcements on formation of negotiating team and establishment of High Council of National Reconciliation. He expressed the hope that release of prisoners would be completed soon to pave the way for the earliest commencement of Intra-Afghan negotiations. Foreign Minister Qureshi reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to continue working with regional and international partners to support efforts for a peaceful, stable and prosperous Afghanistan. Pakistan remains ready to engage in endeavours to facilitate closer Pakistan-Afghanistan economic partnership and regional connectivity projects.

Towards this end, the meeting between the Advisor to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment, Mr. Abdul Razak Dawood and the Chief Executive Officer of U.S International Development Finance Corporation (IDFC), Mr. Adam Boehler, at the Ministry of Commerce yesterday would further strengthen efforts in concretizing important development projects benefitting both Pakistan and Afghanistan and the region as a whole.

During his meeting with Foreign Minister Qureshi, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad also expressed condolences on the loss of lives in the terrorist attack on Pakistan Stock Exchange in Karachi and extended U.S. support. The Foreign Minister praised the bravery of the security personnel and thanked Ambassador Khalilzad for the condolences on the terrorist attack, which was externally supported and was another manifestation of the state-sponsored terrorism being perpetrated against Pakistan, which we condemn in the strongest possible terms. Pakistan has been consistently sensitizing the international community about the Indian leadership’s threatening statements to use terrorism as a tool to destabilize Pakistan. Pakistan has already shared with the international community, incriminating evidence about the Indian Intelligence Agency RAW’s involvement in terrorist activities in Pakistan.

Members of the UN Security Council in their statement yesterday condemned in the strongest terms the heinous and cowardly terrorist attack that took place in Karachi, on 29 June 2020, which resulted in several people killed. The members of the Security Council expressed their deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims and to the Government of Pakistan. They also underlined the need to bring the perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism to justice and urged all States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with the Government of Pakistan and all other relevant authorities in this regard.

Separately, the Foreign Minister also held a telephonic conversation with High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, H.E. Josep Borrell, yesterday. Both leaders exchanged views on a range of subjects related to Pakistan-EU partnership-including trade, the next phase of GSP Plus, and early operationalization of Strategic Engagement Plan (SEP).

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and our Missions continue to facilitate and assist our fellow compatriots all across the world in order to bring them back to Pakistan safely and in a dignified manner. Our Embassies and Consulates are working round the clock in facilitating repatriation of our citizens back home, in accordance with a comprehensive repatriation plan devised in consultation with all stakeholders.

In the past few days, 257 Pakistanis were repatriated from Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore and Brunei, 9504 from Dubai and Northern Emirates, 1430 from Jeddah, 25 from Dushanbe and 96 from Kazakhstan. So far, 113,154 Pakistani nationals have been repatriated from different parts of the world. We thank all the governments of these countries for their cooperation in facilitation the repatriation of our nationals.