Pakistan skips Afghan moot in Moscow

Pakistan has decided to stay away from a regional meeting held this week in Moscow in what seems to be a deliberate move to discredit any Indian initiative on Afghanistan.

The two-day conference was held on Wednesday and Thursday attended by national security advisers (NSA) of regional countries from India, China and Iran along with Central Asian countries.

Pakistan was invited to the conference but it decided not to attend. Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch at a weekly news briefing confirmed to reporters on Thursday that Islamabad had stayed away from the meeting.

“Our decision not to participate in the instant meeting was made in light of our consideration that Pakistan can make a better contribution in formats and forums which can contribute constructively to peace in Afghanistan,” the spokesperson said.

She would not specify the reason but official sources said that the main reason Pakistan opted to stay out of it was because it was the Indian initiative. Pakistan refused to send its national security adviser in 2021 to India for a regional security conference.

The sources said that Pakistan had never joined any initiative with regard to Afghanistan that was led by India. Pakistan considers India as a spoiler in Afghanistan, though both countries sit together on other regional forums including the Moscow Format.

The spokesperson clarified that the current meeting held in Russia was not part of the Moscow Format, of which Pakistan is an active member.

“We are party to several bilateral, trilateral, quadrilateral and multilateral mechanisms for dialogue and these include the Moscow format, and SCO Contact group on Afghanistan. Pakistan will continue to participate in and play its role in all such mechanisms and initiatives that we think would contribute to peace and security in Afghanistan,” she explained.

Against the backdrop of this move, it is not clear whether Pakistan would attend the foreign ministers conference and summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) scheduled to take place in India in May and June.

India has already extended an invitation to Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for the SCO foreign ministers meeting to be held in tourist resort Goa. Pakistan confirmed the invitation but played down its significance, terming it a ‘standard practice.’

When asked, the spokesperson said no decision had been taken yet whether Pakistan would attend the SCO meetings or not in India.

India currently holds the SCO presidency and is hosting a series of events this year. Both Pakistan and India were admitted to the regional forum dominated by Russia and China a few years ago. The two countries made a commitment not to impede the SCO process by bringing up their bilateral disputes.

Observers believe that while Pakistan skipped the regional meeting in Moscow on Afghanistan, it may not be a straightforward decision for Islamabad to stay out of SCO meetings given the Chinese factor. Islamabad is likely to consult Beijing before taking the final decision.

Meawhile, The Foreign Office confirmed that 23 Pakistani nationals were evacuated from the quake-hit Turkiye, while no casualties were reported so far.
“So far, we have no news of casualty of any Pakistani in Turkiye or Syria,” the spokesperson said.

Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said the Pakistanis were evacuated from Gaziantep University and accommodated in Adana city. “Sixteen of these evacuated persons will be brought back to Pakistan, while the rest will be shifted to Istanbul,” she said.

She said the country’s missions in Turkiye and Syria remained in constant touch with the relevant authorities to provide relief to Pakistanis affected by the earthquake.

Also, Pakistan expressed abiding commitment to the full implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Foreign Office said.

Foreign Secretary Dr. Asad Majeed Khan reaffirmed the commitment as he met Director General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Ambassador Fernando Arias at its headquarters in the Hague, Netherlands.

The two sides discussed the ongoing cooperation between Pakistan and the OPCW. The Director General OPCW appreciated Pakistan's role as member of the Executive Council and its contribution to different capacity building programmes.