FO condemns former Canadian minister's remarks about Pakistan

The Foreign Office on Monday condemned remarks by former Canadian Minister Chris Alexander regarding Pakistan's role in the Afghan peace process, saying such remarks depict a complete lack of understanding of the issue as well as ignorance of facts on the ground.

"We strongly condemn the unwarranted comments by former Canadian Minister Chris Alexander, making unfounded and misleading assertions about Pakistan’s role in #AfghanPeaceProcess," FO spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said on Twitter.

"Such remarks betray a complete lack of understanding of the issue as well as ignorance of facts on the ground," he added.

The spokesperson further said such remarks were 'deplorable as the world has now acknowledged Pakistan's and Prime Minister Imran Khan's stance that there is no military solution to the Afghan issue and an inclusive and broad-based political settlement is required. 

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The spokesperson further stated that "The matter has been taken up with the Canadian side. We have urged the Canadian authorities to take steps to address this motivated and malicious smear campaign."

On July 29, Foreign Office said Pakistan had no plans to downgrade diplomatic ties with Afghanistan, insisting negative comments by some elements in the neighbouring country cannot be allowed to impact the “important relationship.”

“Pakistan believes in maintaining close, cooperative and brotherly relations with Afghanistan. There is no plan to downgrade our diplomatic relations with the neighbouring country,” the spokesperson said.

“Negative statements by some elements, who are not representative of the people of Afghanistan, cannot be allowed to adversely impact this important relationship particularly at this critical juncture of the ongoing Afghan peace process,” he added.