ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office for the first time on Thursday officially confirmed working level talks with Afghanistan through the good offices of China, seeking visible and verifiable actions against the terrorist groups using the Afghan soil against Pakistan.
Speaking at the weekly press briefing here, the Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said Pakistan’s participation in the ongoing talks with Afghanistan in Urumqi was a reiteration of its core concerns, with the onus of real progress resting with Afghanistan. Senior officials from both sides are participating in the talks.
“Pakistan has sent its delegation to Ürümqi as part of Trilateral CT Cooperation Mechanism in line with its consistent position and longstanding practice of supporting credible processes that can help achieve a durable solution to the sanctuaries and stop cross-border terrorism from Afghanistan. Our participation is a reiteration of our core concerns,” Andrabi said.
However, the spokesperson pointed out there is no material change to ongoing Operation Ghazab Lil Haq due to any talks.
To a query on the call between the UAE foreign minister and Taliban regime’s foreign minister, the spokesperson responded, “We know this as an expressed intent by the Afghan side. That intent has to be backed by concrete, verifiable assurances in written format that their territory would not be used against Pakistan. The intent, in a document, was inked by the Taliban in Doha in 2021, and yet they did not hold up to their words,” he said.
Asked about China’s role in the Urumqi talks and whether China had agreed to act as a guarantor, the spokesperson refrained from a direct response.
Commenting on the recently concluded meeting in Beijing between the foreign ministers of Pakistan and China, the spokesperson said, “The five points have received appreciation from across the region and beyond.”
On several queries regarding Pakistan hosting talks between Iran and the United States in Islamabad, the spokesperson said it was a matter of satisfaction that both Iran and the US had expressed their confidence in Pakistan to facilitate these talks. “As we said, we will be honored to host and facilitate meaningful talks between the two sides in the coming days for a comprehensive and lasting settlement of the ongoing conflict. Pakistan has a very important relationship with the United States. We have remained actively engaged with the US leadership in our efforts to de-escalate the situation and find a peaceful settlement of this conflict. You must also have seen that we condemned the attack that was carried out against the Gulf countries, and prior to that, condemned the attack on Iran as well,” he said.
On the likelihood of the US vice president or the likely US delegation for these talks, which can take place in Islamabad, he denied having any information.
Pakistan’s efforts would continue despite the complications that may arise in this very challenging facilitative process. Whilst challenges and obstacles could be there, Pakistan would continue its pursuit of facilitation and our advocacy for dialogue – in complete earnestness.
“From our exchanges with Iran, we have heard nothing to the contrary that they are willing to come,” the spokesperson said. To a query about putting pressure on Iran, he stated that this was not a valid observation.
The spokesperson was asked to clarify whether Pakistan was using its flag for 20 tankers of other countries in a bid to cross the Strait of Hormuz but he refrained from giving a clear response.
To a query on the “rhetoric” from President Trump in his Thursday’s address, the spokesperson said, “Regarding your question on statements from either Washington or any other international capital: look, hostilities are going on. When there are ongoing hostilities, a certain level of rhetoric is also expected from the parties. We are not deterred by those harsh sentiments.”
Regarding the UAE letter to the president of the Security Council under Chapter Seven of UN Charter, the spokesperson said that was also a draft resolution before the Security Council on this issue. “We would obviously formulate our position on these issues when they reach a certain level of completion before any action in the Security Council,” he explained.
Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Qatar issued a joint statement condemning and rejecting continued restrictions imposed by Israel on the freedom of worship for Muslims and Christians in occupied Jerusalem, including the prevention of Muslim worshippers from accessing Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif, and prevention of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Custodian of the Holy Land from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate the Palm Sunday Mass. They renewed their condemnation and rejection of any Israeli attempts to alter the legal and historical status quo at Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem.
The ministers affirmed their absolute rejection of the illegal and restrictive Israeli measures against Muslims and Christians in Jerusalem, including preventing Christians from freely accessing the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to perform their religious rites. They stressed the necessity of respecting the legal and historical status quo in Jerusalem and its Muslim and Christian holy sites, reiterating that Israel, as the occupying power, holds no sovereignty over occupied Jerusalem, and underscoring the need to halt all measures that impede worshippers’ access to their places of worship in Jerusalem.
