ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal on Thursday said that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Daesh and Jamatul Ahrar groups were using Afghan soil to carry out terrorist activities in Pakistan. At a weekly news briefing, the spokesman said Indian intelligence agency RAW’s network in Afghanistan was also involved in the terrorist activities inside Pakistan while evidence in this regard had already been shared with Kabul. “Mullah Fazlullah and mastermind of terrorist attack on Army Public School in Peshawar are also in Afghanistan,” he said. The spokesman said the issue of opium cultivation and drugs production posed a serious threat to the socio-economic development, security and stability of not only Afghanistan but the surrounding region also. He said that 43 per cent of Afghanistan’s land was under the control of terrorist organizations, including the militant Islamic State (IS) group. The FO said that the Afghan government needed to take urgent steps for eradication of the menace through enforcement of law, provision of alternative livelihoods and public information campaigns consistent with the international drug conventions. Responding to a question regarding Pakistan’s offer to arrange a meeting between convicted Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav and his wife, the spokesperson said Islamabad made the offer purely on humanitarian grounds. He said the Indian request to grant permission to Kulbhushan’s mother was under consideration. To a question, the spokesperson said the US defense secretary was expected to visit Pakistan in the next few weeks as the dates in this regard were being finalised. He mentioned that Pakistan and the US were engaged in discussions on all issues including those relating to the regional peace and security. To another question, the spokesman said it was regrettable that India continued to politicise humanitarian issues including provision of medical visas for Pakistani patients since May this year. “It is all the more reprehensible as these patients, many of whom had been consulting Indian doctors for a long time, are seeking treatment, often lifesaving, on their own expense without any special discount from India … I repeat on their own expense. No one was fooled by Indian gimmickry. This was not a gesture of compassion but cold blooded politicking under which individuals are picked at will for political mileage,” he said. To another question, the spokesman said that Pakistan would continue to highlight Indian atrocities and human rights violations in occupied Kashmir at the international forums. He condemned the arrest of Hurriyat leaders and fake encounters by Indian security forces in Held Kashmir, calling on human rights defenders to stand up for the rights of the Kashmiri people. He indicated that Pakistan could take the issue of Kashmir to the International Court of Justice following the footsteps of India which took the matter of death row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav to the world court. “Regarding taking the matter of Jammu & Kashmir to ICJ, it is a complex legal problem. The attorney general is working on the matter and may update in due course,” he said in response to a question. When asked about denial of entry to estranged Baloch leader Mehran Marri by Switzerland, the spokesman said Pakistan continued to impress upon friendly countries to deny space to individuals posing threat to sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan. He noted it was not in favour of any country to allow terrorists on its soil. The spokesperson expressed concerns over the conviction of six members of Jamaat-e-Islami by so-called war crimes tribunal in Bangladesh. He expressed Pakistan’s reservations over the death sentences handed to the leaders by tribunal for allegedly committing crimes against humanity during the 1971 war. “We hope and expect that the government of Bangladesh will uphold its commitment, as per the Tripartite Agreement of 1974, wherein it decided not to proceed with the trials as an act of clemency. Pakistan believes that matters should be addressed with a forward looking approach in the spirit of reconciliation,” he said. Published in Daily Times, November 24th 2017.