Unanimous condemnation in NA for US Balochistan hearings
Pakistan summons US Charge d' Affairs, lodges formal complaint over the Balochistan hearings.
ISLAMABAD:
The National Assembly on Monday unanimously approved a resolution condemning a US Congressional Foreign Relations Sub-committee hearing on Balochistan, Express News reported.
The resolution said that they will not tolerate any interference in the internal matters of Pakistan.
The house voted after Opposition leader Chaudhry Nisar had moved the resolution.
The Foreign Office said in a statement that the US Charge d' Affairs, Richard Hoagland, was called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was officially conveyed the government's serious concern.
"This was unacceptable as it amounted to interference in the internal affairs of the country," the Charge d' Affairs was informed.
Hoagland assured that the US Administration had not extended any support to the initiative nor did it subscribe to such views, the statement added.
Pakistani Senators and Ambassador in the US had voiced their concerns over the hearing last week. Senator Raza Rabbani said the US Sub-Committee had no jurisdiction, and that it was “direct intervention” into Pakistan’s internal matters. Sherry Rehman called the hearing “ill-timed”.
Last week, for the first time after decades of simmering strife, disenfranchisement and disenchantment in Balochistan made it to the limelight in the US – and not unexpectedly Pakistan was cast in negative light in a US congressional hearing.
In a packed room of the Rayburn House Office Building, members of the House Foreign Affairs’ Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on February 10, 2012, focused on condemning the Pakistani government and accusing it of broad human rights abuses against the Baloch.
Correction: An earlier version of this story, as per information available then incorrectly mentioned that the US Ambassador was called to the Foreign Office to lodge a formal complaint. This is incorrect, the Charge d' Affairs had been summoned - as clarified in a statement issued by the Foreign Office. The error is regretted.
The National Assembly on Monday unanimously approved a resolution condemning a US Congressional Foreign Relations Sub-committee hearing on Balochistan, Express News reported.
The resolution said that they will not tolerate any interference in the internal matters of Pakistan.
The house voted after Opposition leader Chaudhry Nisar had moved the resolution.
The Foreign Office said in a statement that the US Charge d' Affairs, Richard Hoagland, was called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was officially conveyed the government's serious concern.
"This was unacceptable as it amounted to interference in the internal affairs of the country," the Charge d' Affairs was informed.
Hoagland assured that the US Administration had not extended any support to the initiative nor did it subscribe to such views, the statement added.
Pakistani Senators and Ambassador in the US had voiced their concerns over the hearing last week. Senator Raza Rabbani said the US Sub-Committee had no jurisdiction, and that it was “direct intervention” into Pakistan’s internal matters. Sherry Rehman called the hearing “ill-timed”.
Last week, for the first time after decades of simmering strife, disenfranchisement and disenchantment in Balochistan made it to the limelight in the US – and not unexpectedly Pakistan was cast in negative light in a US congressional hearing.
In a packed room of the Rayburn House Office Building, members of the House Foreign Affairs’ Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on February 10, 2012, focused on condemning the Pakistani government and accusing it of broad human rights abuses against the Baloch.
Correction: An earlier version of this story, as per information available then incorrectly mentioned that the US Ambassador was called to the Foreign Office to lodge a formal complaint. This is incorrect, the Charge d' Affairs had been summoned - as clarified in a statement issued by the Foreign Office. The error is regretted.