FO declines to comment on media reports

ALI HUSSAIN

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office on Thursday declined to comment on whether or not the Trump administration plans to restrict movement of Pakistani diplomats in the United States, despite reports that restrictions could be imposed from May 1 if certain issues between the two countries remain unresolved.

Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal in his weekly media briefing through a video link from Beijing, refrained from making a comment on the issue, saying: “We do not comment on media reports.”

He repeated the same when pressed if the Trump administration was not really thinking to restrict movement of Pakistani diplomats, saying: “I have already responded to this question.”

Reports claim that the US, through a notice shared with Pakistan Embassy in Washington and Foreign Office in Islamabad, said that Pakistani diplomats at their embassy in Washington and at consulates in other cities will not be able to travel beyond 40km from their posts without permission, if certain issues remain unresolved.

Responding to another question regarding the killing of a Pakistani citizen as a result of a car accident involving a US embassy diplomat, he said that a first information report (FIR) of the incident has been registered and the investigations are under way.

He said that Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua has conveyed to the US Ambassador David Hale that justice will take its course in accordance with the law of the land and Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961.

“The US Ambassador has assured the foreign secretary of full cooperation in this issue. We await results of the investigations before discussing the issue any further,” he added.

Giving further details, he said that on April 07, at around 1500 hours, a US embassy vehicle driven by Colonel Joseph Emanual Hall, Defence and Air Attaché of the US Embassy in Islamabad, was involved in an accident on the 7th Avenue-Margalla Road junction that killed a motorcyclist, Ateeq Baig, on the spot and injured a co-rider Raheel.

Commenting on Afghan officials’ claims that more than 400 rockets were fired by Pakistan on Wednesday into the Afghan territory, he said: “We respect Afghanistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. We neither step into Afghan soil, nor fire inside its territory.”

However, he stated that Pakistani troops only respond when they are under attack by terrorist groups hiding across the border. “Our response, as mentioned many times before, is always directed at the point of origin,” he said, adding that after the operation Zarb-e-Azb, terrorist outfits such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Jamat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), Lashkar-e-Islam and others have relocated themselves in Afghanistan.

He said that Daesh, which has also made sanctuaries on Afghan side of the Pak-Afghan border, and other abovementioned terrorist groups regularly undertake cross-border raids on Pakistani posts.

He added that on April 7, one of Pakistani soldiers was martyred in a sniper fire from Afghan territory while another was martyred on April 8 and five others, including an officer, were injured in a cross-border raid by terrorists based in Afghan territory.

Dr Faisal said that the issue has been addressed in some locations where Afghan forces have taken action against terrorist sanctuaries along the border and deployed its troops.

“We urge Afghanistan to take similar actions on other terrorist infested areas to fully address this issue. We have shared actionable intelligence with the Afghan side about the hideouts of terrorists along the Pak-Afghan border,” he added.

He also termed the Prime Minister’s recent visit to Kabul “substantive and successful,” saying that the two sides reaffirmed their commitment for an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process, improvement of bilateral trade, avoidance of blame game, facilitating people to people contacts, cultural exchanges, security and counter-terrorism cooperation.

He said that the Prime Minister reiterated Pakistan’s support for President Ghani’s vision for peace and offer of peace talks to the Taliban. They also agreed to finalize memoranda of understanding on connectivity projects between the two countries, operationalize the working groups of Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS), start discussions on exchange of civilian prisoners and work together for eradication of polio.

To another query about the next SAARC summit, he said that the summit was regrettably scuttled by India. “Pakistan condemns the attempt to bring the bilateral issues into multilateral forums. Indian belligerence has brought this multilateral forum to a halt, holding hostage the development and economic progress of the whole region,” he regretted, adding, “We expect to hold the already delayed summit in Islamabad at the earliest.”

On US-Russia escalation on Syria, he declined to comment, saying: “We do not comment on interstate relations.” However, he added that Pakistan’s position on the situation in Syria is based on the principles of international law, the UN Charter and the rules of inter-state conduct with special focus on respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria.

On defense minister’s recent visit to Russia, he said that the visit was part of Pakistan–Russia regular interaction on security matters. The defense minister has been attending the Moscow Security Conference for the last four years, he said, adding that he met senior officials of relevant departments and ministries and discussed issues of mutual interest and bilateral defense cooperation.