FO rejects rumours, reiterates country’s unambiguous position on Palestinian issue

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office on Friday categorically rejected the aspersions of having any meeting of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif or any Pakistani official with Israeli authorities in Doha during the premier’s recent visit to Qatar.

Responding to media queries during his weekly briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar termed the parking of Prime Minister Sharif’s plane on Doha airport as a “co-incidence” alongside an Israeli jet.

“Some media reports are casting aspersions on the co-incidence of the timings of the visit of an Israeli delegation with the visit of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to Qatar,” he said while categorically rejecting such aspersions and terming these as baseless and unfounded.

The spokesperson reiterated Pakistan’s principled position on the Palestine issue, saying that Islamabad steadfastly supports Palestinians’ inalienable right to self-determination.

He said having a viable, independent, and contiguous Palestinian State with pre-1967 borders and with Quds Al-Sharif as its capital is vital for lasting peace in the Middle East.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shireen Mazari on Thursday had sought an official response from the Foreign Office after reports about a possible secret meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif or Pakistani officials with the Israel officials inside one of the two jets parked in Doha.

In a tweet, Mazari wrote: “I think an official response should come from Mofa at the very least. There is more info on this supposed coincidence. SS [Shehbaz Sharif] arrived in Doha Tue on J-756. On Wed a Mossad special missions jet (n467am), arrived from Israel & stayed there for nearly 9 hours.”

“The two jets remained parked next to each other for the almost 9 hr duration. All this info from open sources/plane tracking. Question is could a meeting have taken place between Shehbaz Sharif or Pakistani State officials & Israeli off inside one of the jets to avoid being caught on media? US regime change agenda?” Mazari further tweeted.

Responding to another question about India’s announcement of the findings of an internal Court of Inquiry regarding the incident of firing of a rogue supersonic missile into Pakistani territory and their decision to terminate the services of three Indian Air Force officers, the spokesperson said that Pakistan has already categorically rejected India’s purported closure of the highly irresponsible incident and reiterates its demand for a joint probe.

He said that Pakistan has genuine concerns while calling for a joint probe into the incident, which have not been addressed.

To another query, the spokesperson confirmed that Pakistan will attend the international counter-terrorism exercise scheduled in October this year under SCO’s Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS) in India as an observer, adding that India had also participated in the same capacity in last year’s drills hosted by Pakistan. “I think we will also be participating in the same capacity as India did,” he added.

On the situation in the Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, he said that India is committing grave human rights violations in the occupied territory by issuing domiciles and granting voting rights to non-Kashmiris in a bid to convert the Muslim majority into a minority in the IIOJK.

On the devastating flood situation across the country, he said that it is a moment of great challenge and adversity for Pakistan, as unprecedented rains and floods have caused massive devastation in various parts of the country especially, in Sindh and Balochistan.

He said that the government has announced a state of emergency owing to huge loss of life, property, infrastructure, livestock and livelihoods, adding that millions of people have been upended from their homes while around 33 million people have been affected.

He said that close to 1,000 lives have been lost while rescue and relief operations are facing difficulties due to washed-away infrastructure.

He said that federal and provincial governments and various departments and agencies including the NDMA and the PDMAs, civil administration and armed forces are leading a coordinated humanitarian response, for which all available resources and capacities are being deployed and mobilised. He said that a National Emergency Operations Centre is operating, and a National Relief Coordination Committee constituted by the prime minister is working under the chair of the Minister for Planning.

He said that the prime minister is himself steering the overall effort who along with Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari visited the flood-hit areas Sukkur. Earlier in the day, he added that the prime minister met a group of ambassadors to sensitise them on the scale of human tragedy.

“As always, the government’s efforts are being complemented and supported by the entire Pakistani nation, with people, civil society and humanitarian organisations stepping forward in big numbers for relief work in the spirit of generosity and solidarity with the affected brothers and sisters,” he added.

As the scale of the disaster is so huge that it requires urgent cooperation and support from the international community, he added that Pakistan is grateful to the UN, IFIs, and a host of our partners and friendly countries who are stepping forward with assistance. “A UN Flash Appeal is also going to be launched on Tuesday, 30 August simultaneously from Geneva and Islamabad,” he added.

He added that millions of our overseas Pakistanis are also ever ready and willing to contribute to this effort. He said that the government has also established the Prime Minister’s Flood Relief Fund 2022 which is accepting donations/ contributions both from home and abroad. He said that Pakistan’s missions around the world are reaching out to Pakistani communities to facilitate and mobilise flood relief activities.

Responding to another query about India’s request to extend the duration for transporting its wheat as assistance to Afghanistan on humanitarian grounds, he said that India’s request is being under consideration.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022