Pakistan has decided to send Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry to Bangladesh with a view to reset its relations which have been strained for the last several months due to ongoing executions of Bangladeshi leaders allegedly for war crimes during the events of 1971.
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz told Thursday a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs which was chaired by Senator Nuzhat Sadiq that the foreign secretary will be visiting Bangladesh soon to discuss issues of mutual interests and improve bilateral relations.
Responding to the concerns of the committee members regarding deterioration of the bilateral relations with Bangladesh due to Pakistan's stance on the ongoing executions of Jamaat-e-Islami leaders by the current Bangladeshi government, Aziz said that Pakistan has never directly condemned the Bangladeshi government's ongoing trial of the JI leaders but expressed our concerns over the flawed trials.
"We never condemned it and even conveyed that it is their internal matter but expressed out concerns over the flawed trials", he said. Aziz also shared with the panel about his discussion with a renowned British lawyer whose name he did not disclose and was hired by the JI to pursue the cases against its leaders in Bangladesh but the lawyer was sent back from the Dhaka airport by the Bangladeshi authorities.
"The renowned British lawyer held a meeting with me and inquired as to why Pakistan is not proactively pursing and raising its voice against the ongoing execution "I just conveyed to him that we don't want to involve directly and advised him to pursue the cases in International Court of Justice", Aziz added. He further said that Pakistan wants a good neighbourly relation with Bangladesh.
Briefing the panel, Foreign Secretary said that Pakistan does want to improve its relations with Bangladesh but added that Pakistan believes that the ongoing trials were based on flaws and several international human rights organisations have also expressed their concerns over the trials.
He stated that several leaders who are facing trails in Bangladesh were at their teens during 1971 events and had nothing to do with the war. Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury, who was executed last year, he added that was even not present in Bangladesh during 1971 and was in the UK for his studies at that time. He added that there was a need for reconciliation in Bangladesh in accordance with the spirit of Pakistan, India, Bangladesh Agreement of 9th April 1974, which calls for a forward looking approach in matters relating to 1971.
After the passage of 40 years, he said that hanging aged persons after the flawed trials in Bangladesh was totally against the agreement, adding several governments had been passed since 1971 and no one initiated such trials. He said that the ongoing trials in Bangladesh were politically motivated and there was no justification at any international forum.
PPP senator Karim Ahmad Khawaja, while sharing his views with the panel, said that Bangladesh is a sovereign country and Pakistan should not have any problem with its actions.
"Let them do it if they want to execute someone they believe was guilty for anything. We should not intervene in their internal affairs", Khawaja said, adding Bangladeshi parliamentarians were raising similar concerns like the Afghan lawmakers who believe that Pakistan is interfering in their internal affairs.
Responding the committee members' queries about the Indian claims of conducting surgical strikes on Pakistan side of the LoC, the foreign secretary said that Pakistan has already rejected the Indian claims and also briefed ambassadors of several countries including of the P-5 of the UN Security Council. He also informed the committee that defence attachés of several counties posted in Islamabad will be given a visit to the LoC in coming few days. On the Indian efforts to isolate Pakistan, Chaudhry maintained that India itself has become isolated, adding that Indian actions have also raised questions on the very existence of BRICS.
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