Islamabad to seek information from US over inclusion of Pakistani companies in Entity List

FO spokesperson confirms PM will visit Afghanistan soon

Pakistan shall seek information from the United States following the addition of seven Pakistani companies in the Entity List maintained by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) of the US Department of Commerce last week.

The statement was part of the Foreign Office’s briefing on Thursday; two days after Pakistan cautioned the US against casting aspersions on its nuclear non-proliferation credentials over the same move.

“We shall be seeking information from the US as well as these companies to better understand the circumstances which led to the listing,” it said. “Pakistan believes that there should be no undue restrictions on the access to dual-use items and technologies for peaceful and legitimate purposes.”

The office warned against ‘unnecessarily’ politicising of the issue.

“We reject the attempts by Pakistan's detractors to exploit these listings to cast aspersions on Pakistan's non-proliferation credentials,” it stressed. “Such attempts give rise to doubts about the motivation and timing of these measures which will be seen as being politically-driven.”

FO also stated that Islamabad was satisfied by post-ship verifications by international suppliers of dual-use items.



In his weekly briefing, FO Spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal elaborated on the Tashkent Conference where Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif led Pakistan’s delegation.

The FO spokesperson also announced that Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will be visiting Afghanistan soon as part of continuous engagement for peace in the neighbouring country.

He said Afghan President Ashraf Ghani invited the prime minister during National Security Adviser Nasser Khan Janjua`s recent visit to Afghanistan.

In response to US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State’s visit, Dr Mohammad Faisal said Alice Wells was in Islamabad for talks with senior officials as part of the positive engagement between the two countries for finding out common grounds on various issues including countering terrorism, FATF and Afghan problem.

He further said the two sides have been holding high-level talks since US President Donald Trump announced his South Asia Policy.

Dr Muhammad Faisal said Pakistan has been consistently emphasising on an Afghan-led Afghan-owned dialogue process for peace in that country.

To a question, he said Pakistan has been expressing serious concerns over the presence of terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan along the Pakistani border.

He said the issue has been raised with the Afghan government as well as the Resolute Support Mission.