FO rubbishes allegations of 'covert' Wuhan Lab operations in Pakistan

Claims story is politically motivated, distorts facts; nothing secret about lab in question

ISLAMABAD:

The Foreign Office has denied allegations that China's Wuhan Lab is conducting covert operations in Pakistan as claimed by The Klaxon.

"There is nothing secret about the Bio-Safety Level-3 (BSL-3) Laboratory of Pakistan referred to in the report," read the statement issued by the FO on Sunday. "It is a politically motivated and fake story, composed of distortion of facts and fabrications that quote anonymous sources."

Pakistan has been sharing information about the facility with the States Parties to the Biological and Toxins Weapons Convention (BTWC) in its submission of 'confidence building measures,' said the statement issued in response to media queries on The Klaxon story.

"The facility is meant for diagnostic and protective system improvement by research and development (R&D) on emerging health threats, surveillance and disease outbreak investigation," according to the FO.

The FO underscored that Pakistan abides by its BTWC obligations and "has been one of the most vocal supporters for a strong verification mechanism to ensure full compliance by the States Parties to the Convention".

It rubbished the allegations made in the story, and maintained that "the attempt to cast aspersions about the facility is particularly absurd against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has highlighted the need for better preparedness in the areas of disease surveillance and control and international collaborations in that regard, consistent with Article X of BTWC".

Australian publication, The Klaxon, published an investigative piece on July 23, claiming that China's Wuhan Lab has set up secret operations in Pakistan under a covert deal with the latter's Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DESTO).

The story, which has since been picked by Indian media, alleges that 'anthrax-like pathogens' are being developed as potential biological warfare. It cites 'intelligence sources, including from the Indian subcontinent' as the basis of its claims.