FO admits 'occasional delays' in funds release

Pakistani missions did not receive salaries on time for at least three months

ISLAMABAD:

Although the Foreign Office on Thursday admitted that certain missions faced delays in receiving funds, it tried to dispel the impression that shortage of funds was because of the current economic crunch faced by the country.

The Pakistani missions in several countries, including key capitals, according to sources, did not receive salaries on time for at least the last three months.

The delay was attributed to the dwindling foreign reserves that forced the State Bank of Pakistan to maintain a tight control over the flow of dollars abroad.

Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zehra Baloch acknowledged the problem but didn't say if it had anything to do with the ongoing financial crises.

"On your first question, we have responded to some queries in the media that there is a process under which the government allocates salaries and other financial support to our missions. The steps sometimes involve occasional delays," the spokesperson explained.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance have been closely engaged in order to resolve these issues. I would also like to add that these efforts have borne results and missions have started receiving funds," she added.

The spokesperson said it was the government policy to ensure smooth functioning of Pakistani missions abroad, and all the relevant departments of the government are committed towards this objective.

"The Pakistani diplomats and missions abroad remain committed to representing Pakistan and performing their functions," she maintained.

The sources told The Express Tribune that a senior Foreign Office official earlier this week went to the finance ministry to convey the gravity of the situation.

However, the finance ministry blamed the Foreign Office for mismanagement. After the non-resolution of the issue, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar approached Finance Minister Ishaq Dar after which some funds were released.

A diplomat posted abroad confirmed to The Express Tribune of receiving the salary for this month. The diplomat, however, said the real issue was the delay in the release of funds to pay rent and school fee and other allowances.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Office said peace in South Asia had become hostage to India’s hegemonic designs that included terrorist activities inside Pakistan and the unabated hostilities carried out in occupied Kashmir.

Mumtaz said India’s hegemonic policies were an “impediment to regional cooperation”.

The spokesperson strongly rejected the recent statement of the Indian External Affairs Ministry that raised objection over the visit of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary General Hissein Brahim Taha to Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), calling him a “mouthpiece of Pakistan”.

The remarks reflect “callousness and disregard” towards inter-state relations and are against the concept of mutual respect, she stressed.

Instead of criticism, she said, India should pay heed to the state terrorism in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and take steps for the implementation of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.

She said the Jammu and Kashmir dispute was one of the oldest on the United Nations’ agenda that remained unresolved due to India’s negative approach.

The OIC secretary general during his visit along the Line of Control in AJK last week met the victims of cross-border shelling who shared with him the details of their sufferings.

The spokesperson said the OIC secretary general’s visit to AJK carried special significance as it came three years after India’s illegal and unilateral actions in IIOJK. The OIC secretary general will share his findings in the next Council of Foreign Ministers’ meeting.

The secretary general reaffirmed the OIC’s commitment and solidarity with the people of Jammu and Kashmir and their right to self-determination in accordance with relevant UNSC resolutions,” she said.

“The international community should join hands to bring an end to the suppression of the people of IIOJK and the violations of their human rights,” she said.

On India’s involvement in terrorist activities inside Pakistan, she said an investigation by law enforcement agencies with the support of international counterparts found concrete evidence that the “masterminds, financiers and the facilitators of Lahore terrorist attack were Indian nationals and were located in India”.

Pakistan has initiated international legal proceedings, including Interpol and Mutual Legal Assistance processes, to bring those responsible to justice, she added.

In response to relations with Afghanistan in the wake of “unprovoked” cross-border firing in Chaman and the attack on a Pakistan diplomat in Kabul, she said, “Discussions were going on at various levels…We are in contact with the Afghan authorities”.

She mentioned that Chargé d’Affaires Ubaidur Rehman Nizamani, who escaped unhurt in the attack, was still in Pakistan and would leave once the consultation process was complete.

She termed the visit of Khar to Kabul “very successful that provided the opportunity to convey Pakistan’s concerns”.

“We hope that the assurances given to us [by the Afghan authorities] will be fulfilled,” she said.

On Pakistan’s climate change situation, she said the international conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan would be held in Geneva on January 9, 2023, and will be co-chaired by the prime minister of Pakistan and the United Nations secretary general.

Pakistan, she said, will present the Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Recovery, and Resilience Framework (4RF) at the conference.

The 4RF document is based on the Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) launched on October 28, 2022, which estimated flood damages to exceed $14.9 billion, economic losses over $15.2 billion, and reconstruction needs over $16 billion.

Asked about the suspension of truckloads at the Pakistan-China border, she said the trade activities between the two countries halted as routine for three months due to snowfall.

To a question on follow-up on the investigation regarding the killing of prominent journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya, the spokesperson said the matter pertained to the interior ministry as appointed the focal body by the government.