Daily Times

The Foreign Office on Thursday denied reports of a rift between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, saying that Islamabad and Riyadh enjoy unique relations, deep-rooted in religion, culture and social ties, reported Radio Pakistan.

“Prime Minister Imran Khan’s remarks and Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s recent visit to Saudi Arabia reflect the unchanged fraternal relations and close contact between the two countries,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said during a weekly press briefing here. He said Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have strong economic, political, security and military cooperation at all levels. Citing the example of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit last year to Islamabad and PM Imran’s visit to Saudi Arabia, he said that they cemented relations between the two countries and provided new opportunities of cooperation in trade, investment and other fields.

He strongly condemned the repeated blasphemous and derogatory social media remarks against Holy Prophet (PBUH) from India, calling it a deliberate and premeditated attempt to instigate communal violence and target Muslims. “Pakistan strongly condemns these deliberate and premeditated attempts to instigate communal violence, which may be used for targeting Muslims. Pakistan calls upon Indian government to investigate these incidents and take immediate action against perpetrators of hate crime and ensure prevention of such incidents in future,” the spokesperson said.

He told media that two incidents of blasphemous and derogatory social media posts had happened both in Indian state of Karnataka and Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). He said the protection and patronage of the perpetrators of such acts by Indian authorities was reprehensible.

The spokesperson said that Pakistan has constantly been sensitizing the world community about the risks of unabated Indian attempts to target and demonize the minorities in India and IIOJK. Pakistan has also called upon Indian government to ensure safety, security and wellbeing of Muslim community and ensure protection of their religious rights, he added.

While highlighting the human rights abuses in IIOJK, the spokesperson said the territory has been under inhumane siege since over a year and turned into the world’s largest prison. The Indian occupation force continue to violate every single right of Kashmiri people including liberty, education, expression, assembly and freedom of religion, he said, adding that over 200 Kashmiri people have been killed by Indian security forces in fake encounters during this year what he said would only further strengthen their resolve to get liberation from Indian repression. Welcoming Human Rights Watch’s call for investigating into the human rights abuses in IIOJK, he said Pakistan continued to call for holding Indian accountable for serious violations in the territory.

Regarding Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s two-day visit to China, the spokesperson said he would lead Pakistan side in the China-Pakistan Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue. He said the visit would play an important role in further strengthening Pakistan-China

While encompassing the diplomatic activities during the recent days, the spokesperson highlighted the visit of President-elect of 75th session of UN General Assembly Volkan Bozkir, prime ministers’ telephonic conversation with newly elected Sri Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaka and Maldivian President Ibrahim Solih, besides foreign minister’s telephonic talk with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Uzbek counterpart.