Pak awaits Indian response on dialogue on Kashmir: FO
Pakistan has offered to resume dialogue to India on Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek and other pending issues and is awaiting a response, Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal stated in his weekly briefing on Thursday.
The FO said that it was also awaiting India's reply on Pakistan's offer to allow Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav a meeting with his wife.
However, the FO spokesman also expressed concern over recent cruise missile tests conducted by India, complaining that Pakistan should have been informed prior to the tests. He also termed them a potential threat to peace in the region.
The spokesperson also condemned recent ceasefire violations on the Line of Control and the Working Boundary, the most recent of which resulted in the death of an elderly woman. He also slammed the arrests of Hurriyat leaders and other Kashmiri activists in India-held Kashmir.
The FO recalled that three young Kashmiris had been killed by Indian forces in the past week in fake encounters. The victims were identified as student Muzamil Ahmad, Toib Majeed Mir and 18-year-old Ashiq Ahmed Bhat.
"Pakistan appreciates the prompt steps taken by the UK government on the display of anti-Pakistan propaganda on London cabs, which are a viola- tion of the UN charter," the FO spokesman said in his briefing.
"Pakistan also believes that it will take action against the display of anti-Pakistan slogans which are now affixed on London buses. Our High Commission in London has already taken this up with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the relevant authorities."
Regarding the recently held Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the human rights situation in Pakistan held in Geneva, the FO said that the report was viewed positively by the members and observers of the Human Rights Council.
"A vast majority of states recognised and appreciated the substantial progress made by Pakistan since our 2012 UPR in the area of human rights through a wide range of legislative, institutional, policy and administrative measures," he claimed.
"Many states complimented Pakistan for the gains made in this important area despite its preoccupation with countering terrorism and its negative fall-out including in the further advancement in implementation of human rights agenda," the FO said.
Nonetheless, the spokesman complained, a newspaper had chosen to present the review in a "selective" and "partisan" manner.
Rejecting Afghanistan's allegations of terrorist safe havens in Pakistan, Faisal said 43 per cent of Afghanistan's territory has become a safe haven for terrorists.