ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar and the Foreign Office threw their weight behind the “professional assessment” by Ambassador Asad Majeed Khan during a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) which was held on Friday.

In a statement, Hina Rabbani Khar said that Ambassador Asad Majeed Khan was questioned about the cypher during the NSC meeting and he appraised the meeting in detail about the content of the cypher he had earlier sent to the Foreign Office.

“The institutions and correspondents agree that the cypher cannot be called a conspiracy,” Khar added. She said that on the basis of the language used in the cypher, the ambassador has suggested making a demarche to the United States, as he stated the language used in the cypher was “unusual”. She said that Pakistan’s Ambassador has performed his duty in a professional manner. She further stated that in the cypher issues including Afghanistan, Ukraine and Pakistan-US relations were discussed.

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She added that the previous government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) called this cypher and sometimes a letter. “If there was any such a major threat, then why didn’t they lodge a protest with the US embassy in Islamabad?” she asked,

Khar also questioned as to why the PTI government was sitting silent for many days after receiving the message. “The previous government lied to the extent that it is felt as a truth,” she added.

Meanwhile, responding to media queries, Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar made it clear that Ambassador Khan briefed the NSC about the context and content of the Cypher Telegram in question, and shared his professional assessment. “His briefing and assessment are accurately reflected in the statement issued at the conclusion of the NSC meeting today (Friday),” the spokesperson added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022