Afghan allegations of airspace violation baseless: FO

APAPPS agreement says both countries need to refrain from 'blame game'

Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal on Thursday said Pakistan rejects the 'baseless' Afghan allegations of airspace violations and air raids inside Afghan territory by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF).

"Pakistan urges Afghanistan to focus on taking effective counter-terrorism actions including plugging of large gaps existing along the Afghan side of Pakistan-Afghanistan border to prevent the targeting of Pakistani civilians and security forces by terrorists from Afghan soil," the press release said.



Faisal also said that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi met and discussed the entire gamut of Pak-Afghan relations including peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan, counter-terrorism, the return of Afghan refugees, bilateral trade and regional connectivity. They agreed on following key principles to operationalise the working groups under Afghanistan - Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS).

APAPPS binds the two countries on certain points; Pakistan will support Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and reconciliations, both countries commit to avoid territorial and aerial violations, they are to jointly undertake effective actions against fugitives and irreconcilable elements.

One of the points of the APAPPS is also that both countries will avoid "public blame game."

Pakistan also rejected callous and heartless attempts of certain sections of the Afghan media to exploit the bombing at the Kunduz seminary to cast baseless aspersions and insinuations against Pakistan.

"This attempt was made by segments that do not want good relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan," the press release read.

Indian atrocities in occupied-Kashmir

The briefing mentioned the current condition of Indian occupied-Kashmir (IoK), and how brutalities by Indian forces continued after the massacre of over 20 Kashmiris last week.



"The silence of the Indian government and failure to acknowledge, let alone accept, the failure of the heinous Indian atrocities to suppress the valiant Kashmiris indicates its stark dissociation from reality," the spokesperson reiterated. He claimed the 'ostrich' approach by the Indian authorities will only aggravate the situation instead of resolving it.