ISLAMABAD: Former secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs Asad Majeed has reportedly recorded a statement under Section 164 CrPC, in which, he maintained that there was no reference to the words "threat" or "conspiracy" in the secret cypher telegram, nor did he make any suggestion on the existence of any conspiracy and it was a political conclusion drawn by the leadership in Islamabad.
The statement, attributed to Asad Majeed, which went viral and is also being reported on electronic media, stated that he simply reported the said conversation held during the lunch accurately to Islamabad in this cypher telegram. Sending cypher is a routine practice of diplomatic missions abroad, it says.
The statement says that there was no reference to the words "threat" or "conspiracy" in the secret Cypher Telegram, nor did I make any suggestion on the existence of any conspiracy. It was a political conclusion drawn by the leadership in Islamabad, it says.
I had suggested that demarche should be issued to USA both in Islamabad and in Washington, it says adding that the views expressed by Donald Lu were responded in the form of demarche issued on March 3, 2022 after NSC meeting in Islamabad. The NSC meeting repeated demarche only and found no conspiracy. Another NSC meeting was also held in April 2022 in which I participated. In that meeting, after reviewing the contents of the cypher telegram, after discussing the matter in detail and after getting input from heads of intelligence agencies, it was again concluded that there was no foreign conspiracy for regime change in Pakistan, it says.
The statement says that Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated this position in its press briefing on April 25, 2022. I did not meet or communicate directly or indirectly with ex-PM or ex-SPM during the period from March 07, 2022 to date, the statement says, adding that as a Foreign Service professional, I believe that the cypher episode has undermined the integrity of our communication system, the credibility of our diplomats and diplomacy with adverse implications.
"I was an officer in BS-22 from Foreign Service of Pakistan and I served as
Foreign Secretary in Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, Islamabad from
December 2022 till my retirement" the statement says, adding that prior to this posting, I was Ambassador of
Pakistan in USA from January 2019 to March 2022. I had invited the Assistant Secretary for South & Central Asian Affairs under US States Department
Donald Lu on March 7, 2022. It was a preplanned lunch hosted by me in the Pakistan House in Washington for the US team dealing with Pakistan, which was scheduled, at about 1230 Hrs, it says.
The statement says it lasted for one and a half hour. The invitees/participants of this lunch were Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu accompanied/assisted by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Lesslie Viguerie. From our side, it was myself, Defence Attache Brig Nauman Awan, Political Qasim Mohiuddin. Both sides were aware that the conversation was being minuted, as is the standard practice on such occasions, it says.
"There was no special occasion. It was part of the regular consultations held with U.S. interlocutors, including the White House, Department of Defence, USTR in addition to the State Department" it says.
It says that this was a practice adopted during Covid because of the US side's inability to host meetings at their premises. The conversation covered the whole range of issues in our bilateral relations. Consequently, communication was sent to Islamabad covering lunch. The subject communication was a cypher telegram addressed to the foreign secretary, who then shared its copies with others in line with his competence. It was sent through our secret coded communication system, used for correspondence between Foreign Missions of Pakistan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad, it says.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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