FO rubbishes Modi’s terror accusation

Says Aasia Bibi 'alive and safe' within Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office has strongly dismissed a recent statement of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing Pakistan of sponsoring terrorism, calling it an attempt to divert world's attention from the gross human rights violations in Indian-occupied Kashmir.

Foreign Office spokesperson Muhammad Faisal, at a weekly briefing on Thursday said India habitually blamed Pakistan rather than positively responding to its offer for negotiations.

"India should refrain from doing this and instead work on the better option (negotiations)," said Faisal referring to Prime Minister Imran Khan's letter to his Indian counterpart, proposing resumption of bilateral dialogue and discussion on all outstanding issues.

Earlier, the Indian premier in a meeting with the US vice president in Singapore was quoted as alleging by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale, "All leads in global terror attacks ultimately lead to a single source — Pakistan, which is politically mainstreaming people involved in terrorist activities."



Replying to a question on Aasia Bibi, the Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy, the spokesperson said she was still in Pakistan—“alive and safe".

Faisal also said the Foreign Office was in touch with the US authorities after Special Envoy for Afghan Peace and Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad put off his upcoming visit to Pakistan. “Pakistan's relations with the US are beyond the framework of Afghan reconciliation,” he stated.

Talking about the country’s ties with Russia, the foreign ministry official said, “Our policy is to successfully engage in efforts to ensure Afghan peace and we believe the forum with regional countries would help restore stability of the war-torn state.”

He added that a military-focused strategy could not be successful in Afghanistan and the conflict required a political Afghan-led and Afghan-owned solution.  He mentioned a recent report by the Watson Institute of International and Public Affairs with the key finding that around 500,700 people had died in Afghanistan and Pakistan in terror-related incidents since 2011 and Pakistan was the worst victim.

On repatriation of Afghan refugees, Faisal said the process at present was suspended due to winters in both countries and would resume in March.

The spokesperson also talked about the government’s efforts for the release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, informing the media that the matter was consistently being raised with the US along with a focus on her legal rights during detention.