ISLAMABAD
\nPakistan has expressed serious concerns over the rise of extremist nationalism in India and its expansionist designs for the South Asia region.
\nForeign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch at a weekly news briefing in Islamabad on Thursday said \u201cWe still await condemnation from the Indian leadership on the recent call for violence and assassination by a BJP leader from Bhagpat.\u201d
\nIn response to a question about the clashes between the security forces of Pakistan and Afghanistan in Chaman-Spin Boldak border region, the Foreign Office spokesperson said \u201cWe have agreed to continue established institutional mechanism with Afghanistan to prevent such incidents.\u201d
\nShe further said Pakistan is in constant touch with the interim government of Afghanistan regarding the resurgence of terrorist incidents and cross-border violence, adding Pakistan had reiterated to the Afghan authorities that the protection of civilians was the responsibility of both sides.
\n\u201cPakistan remains committed to maintaining its fraternal relations with Afghanistan and ensuring that peace is maintained,\u201d she said, mentioning that Pakistan continued to engage with international players including the neighbouring Afghanistan to ensure that the terrorism emanating from Afghan soil could not affect it.
\nShe hoped that the Afghan authorities would work towards fulfilling the commitments made to Pakistan to not allow their territory to be used against its neighbour.
\nAsked if Pakistan was using China\u2019s leverage to counter Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the backdrop of the country\u2019s engagement with Afghanistan, Mumtaz Baloch said Pakistan and China were close strategic partners and \u201cWe consult each other on all matters of interest including counter-terrorism and on the situation in Afghanistan.\u201d
\nTo a question about the number of foreign visits by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto after assuming office, she shared a list of the countries as \u2014 Saudi Arabia (twice), United Arab Emirates (twice), United States (thrice), China (twice), Switzerland, Iran, Uzbekistan (twice), Cambodia, Uzbekistan, Germany, Egypt, Indonesia and Singapore.
\nIn response to the delay in disbursement of salaries to Pakistan\u2019s missions abroad, the spokesperson said the process had been restored that faced suspension due to a \u201cvery complicated\u201d issue pertaining to the Ministry of Finance, the State Bank, and the international channels. \u201cSoon all the missions will have their requisite funds,\u201d she said.
\nAsked about the update on the status of Indian serving Navy Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav who is serving a death sentence in Pakistan, she said, \u201cThere is no change in the status.\u201d
\nThis week, the spokesperson said, Pakistan would host Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Serik Zhumangarin, who will lead a high-level delegation for the Pakistan-Kazakhstan Intergovernmental Joint Commission (IJC) \u2013 an important mechanism to promote mutually beneficial cooperation.
\nThe meeting will focus on cooperation in trade and investment, agriculture, energy, transport and industry, science and technology, banking, higher education, and tourism, she said.
\nThe FO spokesperson said last week, the Indian delegation once again politicized an international forum to project its agenda to target and malign Pakistan. For the last several years, India politicized the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) process to prevent Pakistan\u2019s exit from the Grey List and is following a similar agenda at the UN Security Council, she added.
\n\u201cFor a country that has a grandiose vision about itself and its place in the world, India has been unable to act as a responsible member of the international community that can assume new privileges that it aspires,\u201d she said.
\nBaloch said India masqueraded itself as a victim of terrorism, yet it is itself a perpetrator of repression in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and a sponsor and financier of terrorist groups in South Asia, including Pakistan.
\n\u201cWe are concerned about the rise of extremist nationalism in India and its expansionist designs for the region. We still await condemnation from the Indian leadership on the recent call for violence and assassination by a BJP leader from Bhagpat,\u201d she said.
\nThe spokesperson said the occupation authorities were sealing properties owned by Kashmiris including those dedicated to educational institutions offering free education to disadvantaged Kashmiris. A property owned by Late Hurriyat Leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, located in Barzulla Srinagar, has also been designated for closure.
\n\u201cIndia must be held accountable for these grave injustices. The only way to lasting peace in South Asia is by granting the people of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir their inalienable right to self-determination as enshrined in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions,\u201d she stressed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD Pakistan has expressed serious concerns over the rise of extremist nationalism in India and its expansionist designs for the South Asia region. Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch at a weekly news briefing in Islamabad on Thursday said \u201cWe still await condemnation from the Indian leadership on the recent call for violence and assassination […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-302842","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n