The Foreign Office – referring to the statement of the US State Department – said that it clearly pointed out that the US government had nothing to do with this briefing.
“We have conveyed our concerns and raised this issue with the US authorities both in Washington and Islamabad. The matter was clarified by the US State Department yesterday,” said the Foreign Office.
“We believe that Washington fully understands our position on this issue.”
Meanwhile, State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland, when questioned about the discussion on Balochistan, replied that their view on Balochistan remains unchanged.
“Congress holds hearings on many foreign affairs topics,” stated Nuland.
“These hearings don’t necessarily imply that the US government endorses one view or another. I’d underscore that the State Department is not participating or involved in this hearing today.”
The spokesperson was referring to the comments she had made earlier on Twitter regarding Balochistan. “We emphasise that the US engages with Pakistan on a whole range of issues, including ways to foster economic development and expanding opportunity in Balochistan.”
When asked if the US supported the demand for an independent Balochistan, Nuland said, “You know where we’ve been on Balochistan. We encourage all the parties in Balochistan to work out their differences peacefully and through a valid political process.”
Published in The Express Tribune, February 10th, 2012.
COMMENTS (14)
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@Dani: Balochistan issue is not internal matter of pakistan, we have never been a part of pakistan, read the history carefully that before 27march1948 balochistan was an independant state which was forced fully occupied by pakistan, there is wide spread human rights violation and genocide of baloch being carried out, mutilated drilled bodies are dumped every day in balochistan, if pakistani people n governement is turning blind eye to the burning issue of balochistan then whole world cant be blind like pakistani governement
@Adnan: Dear Adnan, Federation is a good theory, but their are problems associated with it. I live in a Federation, and the basic problem is that you have two governments, a State and Federal Government. If anything goes wrong the State Government blames the Federal Government and visa versa. Both governments are greedy for money so you have two systems of taxation, and you finish up poorer. I could go into local councils, which is the third level of taxation, but I think you get the picture. Another problem is that the Federal Government, which eventually controls the purse strings, is in a remote part of Pakistan from the Punjab a thousand miles away, and has absolutely no idea what difficulties you are going through. They pretend they are interested, but you would have to be low functioning to believe them. I know that what you are saying is correct, but unfortunately it is based on intelligence and logic, something that is absolutely alien to most government decisions. Bet of luck.
Am sure both US Congress and State Department filed this under "Noted"
@A Punjabi: Independent Punjab or any other province is not the solution! I am a Punjabi and love Punjab but I must say being independent is not the solution. Pakistan should be a federation and should act as such. Give the provinces complete autonomy. They should only have currency, foreign policy and defense as a common unit; everything else should be handled by the provinces themselves. This way there can be no blame game. We Punjabis work hard and spend less time on our "Punjabiat" and thus are successful. Pakistan - Punjabis are leading. India - Punjabis are leading. Expatriates - Punjabis are well settled. People kill us because we are successful. We Punjabis have done enough for this country. I see hundreds of Balochs, Pashtuns and Mohajirs in Lahore. Have you ever heard they were killed simply because of their ethnic origin?
@A Punjabi:
Tough luck! There's something called "what goes around comes around"-----just think where we went wrong. Bengalis didn't like us, Sindhis don't like us, Pathans don't exactly are in love with us and Balochis, well!------there's something fundamentally wrong and that's right here---not in Denmark!
tony c if your daughter fights with her husband
will daughter brothers or her neibhours come to fight
that they done human rights violation
better husband wife solve it
I suppose that if I read enough newspaper articles I will, hopefully one day, hear Ms. Nuland say something intelligent. After all, one person cannot get it wrong all the time can they?
I would like everybody in the US government to read 'How to win friends and influence people'. These guys are so arrogant they seem to think they can interfere in every internal matter of other countries to the point that they discuss dismembering our nation as if its a part of normal democratic discourse. I wonder if they'd be so respectful of such hearings if a Pakistani committee discussed the merits of demanding a separate state for Muslims in the US where Sharia law would supreme. Maybe we should discuss the merits of another crusade? America just disrespects everybody and everything and acts as if they're within their rights to do so. Its impossible maintain good relations with the US...their arrogance and double standards know no limits and I think Pakistan should be part of an alliance against US interests...they're a hegemonic power that needs to be cut down to size...and quick!
Pakistani media and politicians are biased about Punjabis. Poor Punjabis are killed every where including Sind and Baluchistan and are not treated as humanbeings. They should not be scarificed in the name of Pakistan. An independent Punjab is now need of the time. We dont want Balouch, Pashtoon or Sindhis along with us.
Perhaps they want to hold a congressional hearing talk Palestine as well
Its an internal matter of pakistan leave us alone.
What the shameful time has come for Pakistani leaders and nation that our extreme matters are being discussed in USA and about Balochistan's future now US leaders shall decide?How much more slavery and beggary our leaders have adopted!!!!!
maybe the american as well as our own media should also start treating the punjabi civilians murdered in balochistan as equal human beings also.thousands of punjabi and urdu speaking civilians have been deliberately targetted and brutally killed because of their being punjabi.we hear all the time our news anchors complaining about the missing people but not once has any of them ever bothered to do an interview with the families of the victims of this genocide against punjabis in balochistan.not once any talkshow on this ethnic cleansing.lakhs of punjabi and urdu speakers living in balochistan have been forced to run away from balochistan,selling off their properties in a hurry before they were murdered but no one in the media bothers to report on this .Are punjabis not humans? is the death of a punjabi not worth condemning?