The Foreign Office on Thursday regretted 'childish behaviour' of Indian government on Pakistan's earlier invitation to finalise the draft agreement on Kartarpur Corridor. Speaking at his weekly media briefing, Spokesperson Foreign Office Dr Mohammad Faisal insisted that Pakistan on January 21, 2019 shared a detailed proposal with India along with the draft agreement proposed by Pakistan.
He said that the departments of Pakistan concerned, in the lead of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have done extensive work in the preparation of the draft agreement, in the last one-and-a-half-month, in line with the directive of the Prime Minister to facilitate the Sikh community.
After extensive meetings among various stakeholders in Pakistan, a finalised draft agreement was prepared, which was subsequently shared with India requesting it to send a delegation to Pakistan for negotiations on the draft agreement, he said.
"India has regrettably behaved in a childish manner, as far as its response is concerned. We have seen similar reply from India in the past, in September 2018, in response to the letter from Prime Minster Imran Khan. I can assure you that our reply on the Indian proposal will be mature and well considered," he replied when asked if Pakistan will send its delegation to New Delhi for the talks on the proposed agreement on Kartarpur corridor.
He said that the Sikh community all around the world, including Qatar, is extremely grateful to the prime minister for the groundbreaking of the Kartarpur Corridor. On the escalation in the cross LoC [Line of Control] firing from India, he said that Pakistani forces are responding to these violations effectively.
"If India responds with a message of peace, we will reciprocate. However, if it resorts to gunfire, Pakistan will respond to it in kind," the spokesperson stated in categorical terms, adding, "Whenever Indian atrocities and human rights violations in the occupied Jammu and Kashmir intensify, we see an escalation in the cross LoC firing."
"These are Indian diversionary tactics," he said, adding that last year around 2,300 ceasefire violations were reported and now these ceasefire violations are intensifying. About the reported handing over of Jinnah House in New Delhi to the Dutch ambassador, he said that he was not aware of the development. However, he insisted that Pakistan's claim on the Jinnah House is legitimate.
Commenting on the reports that Pakistan is not allowing over flight of Indian cargo planes to Afghanistan, Dr Faisal said that Pakistan's position on over flight cargo planes from India remains unchanged. However, passenger flights from India are operating as per the laid down SoPs, he added.
On the likelihood of a meeting between Prime Minister Imran Khan and US President Donald Trump anytime soon, he said that interest has been expressed from the US side for a meeting of the prime minister with President Trump. He pointed out that the US Senator Lindsey Graham who recently visited Pakistan reiterated this interest.
"There are no dates, as of now, for this meeting. A lot of preparation and homework is required before such high-level engagements are materialised," he added. When his comments were sought on the reports which claim that the US has put on the table a proposal to ink a free trade agreement (FTA) with Pakistan in lieu of Pakistan's efforts for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan, Dr Faisal expressed his inability to confirm, saying, "I do not have any information and I will check and revert."
Asked to confirm on the reports that a Pakistani Jew has been granted permission to travel to Jerusalem on the green passport, the spokesperson neither confirmed nor denied it, but reiterated his earlier stance saying: "Our position on Israel remains unchanged."
Commenting on freedom of information (FOI) data which indicates delay in getting passports by British children born in Pakistan, he said that the matter relates to British citizens and hoped that the British authorities follow their rules and regulations and as such no discrimination is given to their citizens irrespective of their place of birth or origin.
About the US-Taliban's latest round of talks in Doha, he said that Pakistan, as a part of the shared responsibility, is facilitating the ongoing round of talks between the US and the Taliban in Doha. "Negotiations are between the two parties for which Pakistan and Qatar are providing the necessary support and facilitating the talks," he said.
He said, "Pakistan has repeatedly said and it has been our consistent position that a political solution through dialogue should be the way forward." On the prime minister's recent visit to Qatar, he said that the prime minister had wide ranging discussions with the Qatari leadership. "We have high hopes from these interactions and remain hopeful that political, economic and commercial relations between Pakistan and Qatar will be cemented further as a result of this high-level engagement," he hoped.
Responding to Indian allegations about sinking of its fishing vessel after being hit by firing from Pakistan side, he stated in categorical terms that no sinking of any Indian fishing boat took place in operating areas of Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) on January 17, 2019, as claimed by the Indians.
He said that the proclaimed position of the incident referred is 110 nautical miles away from Pakistan EEZ in Gulf of Kuch, where PMSA does not operate. "Notwithstanding the above, poaching in Pakistani EEZ by Indian fishing vessels is a frequent activity. PMSA conducts anti-poaching operations as per laws, and International Regulations and UNCLOS-1982," he added.
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