Daily Times

The Foreign Office on Friday rejected reports doing rounds on social media that Pakistan had formally written to Dubai authorities for the handover of journalist Arshad Sharif to Islamabad. “No such letter, undersigned by the foreign minister, was written to the Dubai government, nor does the minister undertake these communications. There is no truth in those reports,” the FO spokesperson Asim Iftikhar said during a weekly briefing.

Replying to a question, the spokesperson said the Pakistan and Kenyan authorities were in close contact and “we will have to wait for the findings of the investigation”.

“The foreign office regrets the demise of Arshad Sharif,” Iftikhar said, adding, “His [assassination] was a serious issue.” The FO spokesperson also informed the media that currently there existed no treaty between Pakistan and Kenya for mutual legal assistance.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is scheduled to visit China next week which, the Foreign Office spokesperson said, would mark the conclusion of MoUs and agreements in the diverse areas and help advance the agenda of bilateral cooperation. He said the visit scheduled on November 1-2, was expected to advance wide-ranging bilateral cooperation agenda in which two sides would review the All-Weather Strategic Cooperation Partnership and exchange views on regional and global developments.

He said the visit would also help consolidate the momentum of CPEC cooperation in wake of the 11th meeting of the CPEC Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) held on Thursday, in which both sides expressed satisfaction over the ongoing projects under CPEC while several new projects were also proposed.

The prime minister, who would also be accompanied by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari would meet with President Xi Jinping and hold delegation-level talks with Premier Li Keqiang.

Referring to the observance of Kashmir Black Day on Thursday, the spokesperson said the country’s leadership, foreign ministry and Pakistan’s missions abroad, through multiple events, underscored Pakistan’s principled position, and resolve to support the Kashmiri people, and called upon the international community to play its due role in urging India to end its illegal occupation, halt massive human rights violations and cease repressive measures against the Kashmiris.

On Black Day, the foreign secretary briefed the resident ambassadors of OIC, P-5 and European countries on the egregious human rights situation in IIOJK.

The foreign minister addressed letters to the President of the UN General Assembly, President of the Security Council, UN Secretary-General, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the OIC Secretary-General. “The situation remains grave meanwhile in the IIOJK. We condemn the recent killings of civilians in fake encounters in Shopian and Kupwara districts. Also condemnable is the stopping of Kashmiri photojournalist Sanna Irshad Mattoo at Delhi airport to prevent her traveling to New York to receive her Pulitzer Prize,” he told the newsmen.

The spokesperson also expressed concerns over the recent attack and ransacking of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference head office in Srinagar by Hindutva fanatics supported by the Indian Army.

He also apprised the media of the prime minister’s recent visit to Saudi Arabia on October 24, where he held consultations with the Saudi Crown Prince and attended the Saudi Future Investment Initiative Summit.

Regarding Pakistan’s removal from FATF grey list, the spokesperson said in its plenary meeting held in Paris, the Financial Action Task Force decided by consensus that Pakistan had completed all “substantial, technical and procedural” requirements of both 2018 and 2021 Action Plans. And as a result, Pakistan has been taken out of the list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring, with immediate effect, he remarked.