ISLAMABAD, June 18: Pakistan on Monday said there was no question of forgetting about the follow-up on the Samjhota Express blast tragedy as many of its citizens had lost their lives in that terrorist act. Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam told a weekly news briefing that the Indian government had repeatedly been reminded to share the findings of its investigations into the incident with Pakistan but so far nothing had been received from that end.

The spokesman deplored Britain’s decision to knight the controversial author Salman Rushdie and indicated that it would soon lodge a formal protest with the British government. “This decision is very obviously insensitive to the sentiments of the Muslims around the world and it does not help efforts by the two sides to foster dialogue and greater understanding,” she said.

Referring to the meeting of US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte with Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan here last week, the spokesperson said a whole range of bilateral and regional issues were discussed. She said Mr Negroponte was briefed about the current status of the peace process and the composite dialogue with India.

The spokesperson told a questioner that increasing harassment of Pakistani nationals in America, issues of immigration procedures, visa regulations and detained Pakistanis were also discussed. Replying to another question, she categorically stated that no issue relating to human rights was raised by the US official during his meetings here.

The spokesperson was evasive when asked to confirm reports that the Maltese Foreign Minister during his meeting with President Gen Pervez Musharraf last week had also raised the uniform issue with him. She left it at: “These were…speculative reports.” To another question, she said: “As regards the president’s holding of two offices, these are our internal matters ...”

When the spokesperson’s reaction was sought on a statement by EU officials that if the exiled Pakistani leadership was deported on return there would be strict action, she said: “We have been emphasising it for a long time that we would like the European countries to be as forthcoming to our requests as we are to theirs.” On calls for the inclusion of Taliban in the grand peace jirga, she said: “We do not decide the composition of the jirga from the Afghan side. It’s up to the Afghan government and Afghan people.”

Asked if Pakistan had been able to pacify the concerns of the Canadian government with regard to the murder of its national in Islamabad allegedly by a former state minister, Ms Aslam said the matter was under investigations and the Canadians were aware of efforts presently underway to find out who murdered her and under what circumstances.

On return of the repatriated Afghan refugees, the spokesperson said to make the repatriation sustainable, the allowance given to refugees ought to be sufficient, they must be settled in relatively secure places, they must have shelter and some job opportunities.

To a query about the ‘vanishing’ Pakistan Naval officials who had gone to Japan last month on a goodwill mission, she conceded that it had caused the country embarrassment. “But we do hope that it would not impact on our interactions of this nature in future,” she said.

On the Palestine issue, the spokesperson said the situation in Palestine was unfortunate and a source of deep concern for the entire Muslim world.