No French envoy in Islamabad now: FO

The Foreign Office said on Thursday the relevant authorities were handling the issue of long march called by the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, and insisted that currently, there was no French ambassador in Islamabad.

At a weekly briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar told reporters that the Afghan Taliban had appointed new diplomatic staff in Pakistan but stressed that it was administrative matter, aimed at smooth functioning of the country’s embassy in Islamabad.

The Foreign Office said that the recent test-fire of surface-to-surface ballistic missile Agni-5 by India would further vitiate the political and security environment in South Asia.

"We are concerned at India's jingoistic pursuit of lethal weapons, which coupled with its hostile posturing vis-à-vis neighbours, further imperils peace and stability in South Asia," Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar said.

He said it must be alarming for the international community that at a time when the region was already facing the growing and real threat of extremist Hindutva ideology which espouses territorial expansionism, the BJP-RSS combine was recklessly seeking an arms race.

He told media that India's behavior defied the oft-propounded argument that its mainstreaming in the international export control regimes would further the non-proliferation objectives of the regime by promoting restraints.

"To the contrary, India seems to have been imbued with a sense of entitlement to access technologies for advancing its weapons programs, and it is a source of concern for us," the spokesperson remarked.

To a question, Asim Iftikhar said Pakistan was working with regional partners and others to encourage engagement with Afghanistan, to find best ways forward on so many issues that Afghanistan faced currently including the humanitarian crisis, economic issues, and other concerns and expectations such as with regard to an inclusive set-up, respect for human rights, and not allowing usage of Afghan soil for terrorist activities against any other country etc.

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Responding to a question, the spokesperson said that the relevant authorities were looking into the start of international flight between Srinagar and Sharjah, however, he refused to comment on a recent memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the Dubai government and Indian authorities to make massive investment in the Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

“On the question of flights and some reported investments in IIOJK, there are various dimensions to it, especially in the case of flights that includes technical questions as well as international conventions on air navigation, the relevant authorities are seized of the matter,” the spokesperson told reporters.

The start of international flights came on the heels of the MoU signed between the Dubai government and the Indian authorities regarding investment in IIOJK. The Dubai government, as per the MoU, would invest in real estate, IT towers, hospitals and other infrastructure.

When repeatedly asked about the development, the Foreign Office spokesperson refused to explicitly offer any comment, neither did he express concerns over the move.

Instead, he said the main issue here was that India was seeking to divert attention from oppression and human right violations in IIOJK, and continued to employ diversionary measures to portray fake sense of ‘normalcy’ and development in IIOJK.

“Let me state that Jammu and Kashmir remains an internationally-recognised disputed territory. No such ploy to mislead the international community would succeed,” spokesperson Asim Iftikhar said.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson confirmed that the Afghan Taliban had appointed new diplomatic staff in Pakistan. “This is an administrative matter and is meant to enable the embassy to perform its functions, primarily the consular functions as you are aware there are millions of Afghan refugees in Pakistan and there are visa issues as well. So this has to be seen in that context,” he explained.

“I understand they have made similar appointments in their embassies in some other countries,” he added.

Regarding the conference on Afghanistan being hosted by India, the spokesperson said it seemed India was trying to find some relevance in the context of Afghanistan.

“As you are aware, various other regional mechanisms and processes are in place, including the one initiated by Pakistan itself – involving the neighbouring countries of Afghanistan, the first meeting was held in Islamabad in September and the second ministerial meeting was held in Tehran only yesterday. There were also meetings held in Moscow before that. In this overall context, we are assessing the Indian invitation,” he said.