ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has reaffirmed its commitment to engage with Afghanistan on all aspects of cooperation and concern, including issues relating to terror threats.

At her weekly news briefing here on Thursday, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch urged Afghan authorities to fulfil their promises that their soil will not be used for terrorism against Pakistan.

She said it was their responsibility to ensure that their land was not used against Pakistan, and Afghan authorities had accepted this responsibility on various occasions.

On the situation in India-held Kashmir, Ms Baloch said that since August 5, 2019, over 780 Kashmiris had been martyred by occupation forces.

FO says India’s unabated repression fails to break the will of Kashmiris

She said India’s unabated repression over the last seven decades had failed to break the will of Kashmiris for the right to self-determination.

She said Pakistan would continue to support its Kashmiri brothers and sisters in their just struggle against Indian oppression till the realisation of their inalienable right to self-determination as enshrined in the UN Security Council resolutions.

In reply to a question, the spokesperson said the Indus Water Treaty was an important document that had served both Pakistan and India. She said Pakistan was committed to its full implementation and hoped that India would remain committed to it.

She said the UN Human Rights Council recently adopted a historic resolution presented by Pakistan on behalf of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) which condemned any advocacy of religious hatred, including the recent acts of desecration of the Holy Quran and underscored the need for holding the perpetrators to account.

She said Pakistan shared the disappointment of OIC member states that despite its balanced and apolitical nature, this important resolution was put to vote on fallacious grounds, derailing the council’s consensus.

The spokesperson said Pakistan believed that the Human Rights Council must speak with one voice on the issue of Islamophobia which affects human rights, fundamental freedoms, dignity and identity of over two billion Muslims.

She said Pakistan would continue to take lead in raising global awareness about Islamophobia and xenophobia and fostering interfaith dialogue, harmony and peaceful coexistence.

The FO spokesperson said that Azerbaijan’s Minister for Digital Develo­pment and Transport would undertake a three-day visit to Pakistan from Monday.

She said the visiting minister would meet Pakistani counterparts in the ministries of Information Technology, Aviation, Communications, Railways and Maritime Affairs and explore bilateral cooperation in the areas of connectivity and Information Technology.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2023