ISLAMABAD
\nPakistan on Thursday said peace in South Asia had become hostage to India\u2019s hegemonic designs that included terrorist activities inside Pakistan and the unabated hostilities carried out in the Occupied Kashmir.
\nForeign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch at a weekly press briefing said India\u2019s hegemonic policies were an \u201cimpediment to regional cooperation\u201d.
\nThe spokesperson strongly rejected the recent statement of the Indian External Affairs Ministry that raised objection over the visit of Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Hissein Brahim Taha to Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), calling him a \u201cmouthpiece of Pakistan\u201d. The remarks reflect \u201ccallousness and disregard\u201d towards inter-State relations and are against the concept of mutual respect, she stressed.
\nInstead of criticism, she said, India should pay heed to the state terrorism in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and take steps for the implementation of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions. She said the Jammu and Kashmir dispute was one of the oldest on the United Nations\u2019 agenda that remained unresolved due to India\u2019s negative approach.
\nThe OIC Secretary-General during his visit to the Line of Control in AJK last week met the victims of cross-border shelling who shared with him the details of their sufferings.
\nBaloch said OIC Secretary-General\u2019s visit to AJK carried special significance as it came three years after India\u2019s illegal and unilateral actions in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu Kashmir (IIOJK). The OIC Secretary-General will share his findings in the next Council of Foreign Ministers\u2019 meeting.
\n\u201cThe Secretary-General reaffirmed OIC\u2019s commitment and solidarity with the people of Jammu and Kashmir and to their right to self-determination in accordance with relevant UN Security Council resolutions,\u201d she said. \u201cThe international community should join hands to bring an end to the suppression of the people of IIOJK and the violations of their human rights,\u201d she said.
\nOn India\u2019s involvement in terrorist activities inside Pakistan, she said an investigation by law enforcement agencies with the support of international counterparts found concrete evidence that the \u201cmasterminds, financiers and the facilitators of Lahore terrorist attack were Indian nationals and were located in India\u201d.
\nPakistan has initiated international legal proceedings including Interpol and Mutual Legal Assistance processes to bring those responsible to justice, she added.
\nIn response to relations with Afghanistan in the wake of \u201cunprovoked\u201d cross-border firing in Chaman and the attack on a Pakistan diplomat in Kabul, she said, \u201cDiscussions were going on at various levels\u2026We are in contact with the Afghan authorities\u201d.
\nShe mentioned that Charg\u00e9 d\u2019affaires Ubaid-ur-Rehman Nizamani, who escaped unhurt in the attack, was still in Pakistan and would leave once the consultation process was complete. She termed the visit of State Minister for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar to Kabul \u201cvery successful that provided the opportunity to convey Pakistan\u2019s concerns\u201d. \u201cWe hope that the assurances given to us [by the Afghan authorities] will be fulfilled,\u201d she said.
\nOn Pakistan\u2019s climate change situation, she said the international conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan would be held in Geneva on January 9, 2023, and will be co-chaired by the prime minister of Pakistan and the United Nations Secretary-General.
\nPakistan, she said, will present the Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Recovery, and Resilience Framework (4RF) at the Conference. The 4RF document is based on the Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA), launched on October 28, 2022, which estimated flood damages to exceed USD 14.9 billion, economic losses over USD 15.2 billion, and reconstruction needs over USD 16 billion.
\nAsked about the suspension of truckloads at the Pakistan-China border, she said the trade activities between the two countries halted as routine for three months due to snowfall. In response to a question on follow-up on the investigation regarding the killing of prominent journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya, Baloch said the matter pertained to the Interior Ministry as appointed the focal body by the government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD Pakistan on Thursday said peace in South Asia had become hostage to India\u2019s hegemonic designs that included terrorist activities inside Pakistan and the unabated hostilities carried out in the Occupied Kashmir. Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch at a weekly press briefing said India\u2019s hegemonic policies were an \u201cimpediment to regional cooperation\u201d. The spokesperson […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":301445,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[554,11834,226],"class_list":{"0":"post-301423","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news","8":"tag-foreign-office","9":"tag-mumtaz-zahra-baloch","10":"tag-spokesperson"},"yoast_head":"\n