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ISLAMABAD, Feb 27: The Foreign Office said on Monday that Pakistan and India were discussing at various levels the proposal of self-governance in Kashmir. Answering a question about ‘secret diplomacy’ on self-governance in the disputed territory, FO Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said: “I won’t call it secret diplomacy, but we do have various levels of engagement with India on this issue.” She pointed to the composite dialogue, engagement at political and leadership levels as well as back-channel diplomacy.
Addressing the weekly news briefing, the spokesperson declined to comment on why the Indian prime minister had now talked about having the intention of revisiting the human rights situation in Kashmir.
Underscoring that the issue had been on the agenda of Pakistan-India talks, she said: “We do hope that some credible measures will be taken to improve the human rights situation.”
About delay in the announcement of the schedule of meetings for the next round of composite dialogue, she said dates for one or two meetings had to be worked out. “Once that is done then we will announce the dates.”
When her attention was drawn to a report that some of Pakistan’s embassies were distributing a booklet containing a map of Jammu and Kashmir at variance with Pakistan’s long-held position on the dispute, she stated: “The ministry of foreign affairs has not circulated any map and let me assure you there is no change in our position on Kashmir.”
At the outset, Spokesperson Aslam announced Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz’s official visit to the United Kingdom on March 5-8 during which he would also address the ‘Asia 2015 Conference’ being organised by DFID.
She said the prime minister would also visit Jordan from March 8 to 9 at the invitation of his Jordanian counterpart to consolidate bilateral relations.
AFGHANISTAN: The spokesperson preferred not to comment on reports that President Hamid Karzai had blamed Pakistan for interfering in Afghanistan’s internal affairs, saying she was not sure of the veracity of these reports.
About the explanation given by the US at the Tripartite Commission’s meeting last week for aerial strikes in Bajaur Agency, her response was: “I’m not going into details of the discussion.”
She confirmed that during President Karzai’s recent visit here a list of wanted Taliban leaders had been handed over to Pakistani authorities. Disclosing that the number of persons on the list was less than 40, she said: “Investigations by our intelligence agencies are under way.”
On certain information that had also been handed over about the whereabouts of Mullah Omar, she said that had been checked out and it was found that some of the information provided was not current. She, however, added these matters were being handled by security agencies in the two countries.
Ms Aslam said that Osama bin Laden’s name was not on the list. “There is no evidence that Osama bin Laden is here or was here or where he is. If we knew where he was he would have been caught.”
The spokesperson pointed out that Islamabad had not received any request from Kabul not to name missiles after Afghan heroes. She observed: “These are our common heroes. We have a shared history and if our missiles are named after our common heroes it is not to insult them but it is to acknowledge their contribution.”
OIC FOREIGN MINISTERS: When asked for the proposed meeting of OIC foreign ministers to discuss the issue of blasphemous caricatures, she said so far no meeting had been scheduled.
Ms Aslam said the OIC contact groups were meeting regularly and following up developments in New York and Geneva. A meeting of the Alliance of Civilization was taking place in Doha and the OIC secretary-general would be meeting the UN secretary-general as well as the EU High Representative Javier Solana in this regard.
The spokesperson rejected the Human Rights Watch Report on Pakistan, saying there was no substance in it.
“These are very general accusations and insinuations. The report has not presented any evidence but sweeping allegations have been made and we reject them.
“Pakistan is a very vibrant society; the media in Pakistan is free, the democratic institutions are growing, there is very candid, open and continuous debate in Pakistan on every aspect of governance in the country,” she stressed.
The government, she said, had taken several steps to improve the human rights situation, empower women and minorities.
Answering a question about travel ratings that ranked Pakistan among the 10 most dangerous destinations in the world, she said: “There is no recognized international organisation which rates the countries according to the security situation.”
Raising questions about credentials of the organisation and motives behind the report, she said the reasons cited for such a designation would have to be looked at before any comment on the rating could be given.”
—Q.A
