Pakistan officials meet envoys amid tensions
PUSH ON TO PREVENT ANY BID TO ISOLATE ISLAMABAD
Pakistan Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua and her colleagues spent a busy Sunday holding meetings with ambassadors and high commissioners of various countries, in order to thwart any attempt by India to isolate Islamabad, officials said.
Despite the fact that the country was rolling out a red-carpet welcome to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman who was visiting Pakistan on the same day, senior Foreign Office officials scheduled appointments to explain to representatives of the international community that, “Pakistan has nothing to do with the suicide attack in Pulwama.”
According to a tweet by Foreign Office spokesperson, Dr Mohammad Faisal, Foreign Secretary Janjua on Sunday briefed envoys from African and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states about Pakistan’s stated position and reiterated Islamabad didn’t believe in violence or terrorism in resolving issues.
“[Janjua, in today’s interaction with envoys belonging to SCO states] recalled a familiar pattern of India blaming Pakistan instantly after such incidents without any investigation”, Faisal said in his tweet.
India asked for evidence
A day earlier, on Saturday, the foreign secretary had taken envoys from the European Union and non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council into confidence to clarify Islamabad’s position over India’s allegations.
The Foreign Office has already asked the Indian government to either share evidence of Pakistan’s involvement in Thursday’s suicide attack in Pulwama that claimed lives of at least 44 Indian soldiers or refrain from making allegations.
Shortly after the attack, the ■ India has not informed
Pakistan that it is withdrawing the Most Favoured Nation
(MFN) status to it, a senior
Pakistani official said yesterday.
India on Friday announced the withdrawal of the MFN status for Pakistan, following the deadly terror attack on
CRPF personnel in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir, and hiked customs duty by 200 per cent on goods originating from Pakistan with immediate effect on Saturday.
Adviser to Prime Minister
Imran Khan on Commerce
Abdul Razzaq Dawood said New Delhi has not informed Islamabad about withdrawing Pakistan’s MFN status, Geo News reported.
Dawood said, “We are looking into the withdrawal of the MFN status by India. We can speak to India about this issue”.
He further said Pakistan can raise this issue at different forums including the World Trade Organisation (WETO) as both countries are members of the global trade body.
India granted the MFN status to Pakistan in 1996, but Islamabad has not reciprocated. India’s decision would hit Pakistan’s exports to India, which stood at $488.5 million in 2017-18 as it would drastically increase the prices of its goods. Indian government launched a series of economic measures, including withdrawal of Pakistan’s “Most Favoured Nation” trade status and raising customs duty on all imports from the neighbouring country to 200 per cent, which is expected to affect the $2 billion bilateral trade.
India has also decided to increase pressure on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to get Pakistan blacklisted over its alleged links with the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), which it blames for the deadly value of Pakistan’s exports to India in 2017-18. attack. In her meetings with envoys, Janjua said there was a deliberate anti-Pakistan frenzy that India had been whipping up.
Meanwhile, Pakistan is closely watching the situation, a senior official in the ministry said, adding Prime Minister Imran Khan has decided to take other political parties’ leadership in confidence in order to achieve a consensus on what Pakistan’s reply to the Indian allegations should be, officials said.
Pakistan’s permanent envoy to the United Nations, Maleeha Lodhi, has also been directed to raise the matter proactively at the UN and other forums — including with the friends of Pakistan — to counter any attempt by the Indian government to isolate Pakistan, he said.
The Foreign Office has warned India against any military adventurism in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack, and asked the neighbouring country to investigate before passing blame.