Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Faisal Thursday said Pakistan is committed to peace and security in Afghanistan and fully supports Afghan president’s peace initiatives in this regard.

“There is no military solution to decades long conflict in Afghanistan,” he told a weekly press briefing here. He said Pakistan fully supports the efforts of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani for talks with the Taliban, adding that Pakistan hopes that Taliban will grab the opportunity of unconditional peace talks with the Afghan government.

The spokesman reiterated Pakistan’s desire for peace in Afghanistan and said the country was playing its due role in this regard. The international community also has to play its part in bringing peace to the war-torn country, he said, adding it was not Pakistan’s sole responsibility to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table.

The spokesman said Pakistan strongly condemns terrorist attack in Jalalabad city. “We are distressed and grieved over the loss of precious human lives. Pakistan reiterates its condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.”

Dr Faisal maintained that United States Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Ambassador Alice G Wells had a useful visit to Pakistan during which detailed discussions and meetings were held. During a meeting at the Foreign Office, the two sides discussed bilateral relations as well as regional situation especially, in Afghanistan, he said.

About brutalities in Indian Held Kashmir, the spokesperson said Pakistan has always voiced serious concerns over the relentless killing, maiming, unlawful arrests and torture by India of the innocent civilians in the occupied valley. He pointed out that in June alone, 33 people have been killed by the Indian army.

The spokesman reiterated the demand for immediate establishment of commission of inquiry to assess the human rights situation in the region. He said the recommendations of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) need to be implemented without delay. “We urge the international community to call India to account for its grave human rights violations in held Kashmir,” he said.

Faisal said the recently released UN report categorically focused on the Indian atrocities in the occupied valley and explicitly underscored India’s obligation to fulfill its commitment to international human rights law.

In response to a question, he said he has no information on former prime minister Nawaz Sharif taking political refuge in London.

The spokesman also congratulated Archbishop Joseph Coutts of the Catholic Church of Karachi who was elevated to the rank of Cardinal by Pope Francis last week.

Archbishop Coutts was the second Pakistani accorded this honour after Cardinal Joseph Cordeiro, who was appointed in 1973. In the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, Cardinals come immediately after the Pope. One of the primary responsibilities of the Cardinals is to elect a new Pope when the position becomes vacant.

The spokesman also extended heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family of Zainab, a young Pakistani who was undergoing treatment in India and breathed her last on July 3 in an Indian hospital.

Published in Daily Times, July 6^th 2018.