Safeguarding interests: EU guarantees sought against Baloch rebels

FO claims any accord with India depends on Kashmir’s right to self-determination.

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan is seeking firm guarantees from European states, where some Baloch insurgent leaders have found sanctuary or have applied for political asylum, that their territories would not be used to stoke unrest in Balochistan, an official said on Friday.

The move came a month after a resolution was introduced in the US Congress seeking sovereignty for Balochistan.

“Our mission in Geneva is active and will ensure that the issue is not portrayed in a manner that some detractors of Pakistan are trying to do,” Foreign Office spokesperson Abdul Basit told a weekly news briefing on Friday.

“We have conveyed our concerns to the relevant governments on these issues, and have been assured that their respective territories would not be used for anti-Pakistan activities,” he said. “Last week, we relayed our concerns to the Swiss embassy.”

Brahamdagh Bugti, chief of the Baloch Republican Party, has applied for political asylum in Switzerland, while Nawabzada Hyrbyair Marri, whose Baloch Liberation Army is blamed for most of the violence in Balochistan, has been granted asylum in the United Kingdom.

Earlier this month, the government withdrew ‘political cases’ against the two separatist leaders. The overture, however, was rejected by the two men, who resolved to continue the fight.

The spokesperson said Pakistan’s diplomatic missions abroad were engaged to ensure that this issue was not exploited against national interests. “The Pakistan government has been trying to handle the situation politically. This is an internal matter. We will deal with it in our own constitutional and political way,” he added.

Asked whether the US was going to open a consulate in Balochistan, Basit said, “The United States had made the request years ago, but no decision has yet been made by the government.”

To a question whether Pakistan has decided to go ahead with a new approach towards India, which includes freezing of the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir, the spokesman reiterated that “the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is about the people of Kashmir; it is about their right to self-determination. There is, therefore, no question of freezing this matter or putting this core dispute on the backburner.”

He said Pakistan was taking steps to normalise relations with India, but reaching the final decision would inevitably depend upon the realisation of the aspirations of Kashmiris.

When quizzed on allegations made by Bangladeshi Prime Minister Hasina Wajid that her rival Khaleda Zia had received money from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) during the 1990s elections, Basit refused to comment, saying that it was their internal matter. “So it is better not to comment on that,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2012.