FO rejects India’s remarks at UNSC briefing

Pakistan on Thursday strongly rejected India’s “unwarranted” remarks made against Pakistan at the Security Council briefing.

“India’s irresponsible behaviour at the Security Council during its non-permanent membership confirms that it does not have the competence nor the wisdom to qualify as a permanent member of the Security Council,” said Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch during her weekly press briefing.

She was referring to the Permanent Mission of India to UN Pratik Mathur's statement in which he criticised Pakistan for taking up the Jammu and Kashmir issue during a debate at the ongoing meeting of member nations of the United Nations Security Council.

"As we meet today to discuss UNSC reforms, a representative of Pakistan has yet again made unwarranted references to Jammu and Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir remain an integral and inalienable part of India irrespective of what Pakistan's representative believes," the India envoy was quoted as saying by the Indian media.

To a question on the incidents of firing from across the Afghan border, she said there had been some issues at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and the two sides were holding regular border flag meetings and were engaged in discussion at various levels, including Kharlachi Border Crossing Point.

On the Chaman Border crossing point, she said it was reopened on Monday following discussions between the two sides at Border Flag Meetings. The key focus of these meetings was to clear pedestrian traffic and trade consignments.

“The Afghan side has communicated its serious regret over the incident and has constituted a high-level committee comprising of the Afghan Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Border and Tribal Affairs, local Chambers of Commerce and tribal elders to investigate the incident and avoid recurrence,” the spokesperson informed.

Read Iran crackdown in spotlight at UN rights council

Asked about the violation of the Indus Waters Treaty by India and the Kishanganga hydropower project, she said the World Bank had a special responsibility with respect to the Indus Waters Treaty.

“We believe that India has developed this project in violation of the treaty. Pakistan is very closely engaged with the World Bank on this issue. We have noted the recent progress on the nomination of a court of arbitration and look forward to a judicious settlement.”

She congratulated the State of Qatar for being the first Muslim and Arab country to host the FIFA World Cup 2022. Pakistan is assisting the Qatari government in security for the World Cup. We wish them a great tournament, she added.

Apprising the media about the diplomatic engagements during the last week, the spokesperson referred to the COP27’s decision to establish the Loss and Damage Fund.

“We are particularly gratified with the decision to establish a fund to address “loss and damage” caused by climate-induced disasters to effectively address the urgent needs of developing countries. We see the consensus at COP27 as a momentous achievement, especially for the Group of 77 and China.”

She said the dedicated “Fund for Loss and Damage” would address losses and damages in developing countries, such as Pakistan, which were particularly vulnerable to the adverse impact of climate change.

She said Pakistan and the Dominican Republic had established diplomatic relations as a formal Joint Communiqué was signed to this effect on November 18, 2022, in New York by the Permanent Representatives of Pakistan and the Dominican Republic.

She said last year, Pakistan established formal diplomatic relations with the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) of Kiribati and Palau. Since March last year, Pakistan has opened five new Missions in Africa as part of our Engage Africa policy initiative. Pakistan intends to continue to increase its diplomatic engagement in all continents.