Staff Report
ISAMABAD: Pakistan has said that ties with India cannot return to normal without resolving the Kashmir issue.
During a weekly briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said, “Pakistan’s position on relations with India is clear, relations with India will not be normal without resolving the Kashmir issue.”
“Pakistan wants India to stop committing atrocities on Kashmiris.”
The spokesperson said that 2022 proved to be very dynamic in terms of Pakistan’s foreign policy as after the Covid-19 restrictions, there were high-level contacts between Pakistan and friendly countries.
She said that Pakistan’s biggest success was coming out of the FATF grey list. “Pakistan came out of the FATF gray list after 52 months of the toughest scrutiny,” the spokesman said, adding that the establishment of the global fund for climate change was also a great success for Pakistan.
Pak-US relations
The spokesperson said that relations between Pakistan and the United States also improved significantly. “The US appointed its new ambassador to Pakistan after four years,” she said.
Zahra Baloch said that the foreign minister’s visits to the US in September and December were positive, and the US approved the provision of military equipment to Pakistan after a long time.
Expressing concern over the promotion of Hinduism in India, the spokesman said that the incident of Indian missile firing in Pakistan was a proof of extreme irresponsibility. “The OIC Council of Foreign Ministers also took notice of Indian missile firing,” the spokesperson said, adding that there was no change in Pakistan’s position on Kulbhushan Yadav’s issue. “Pakistan allowed Indian wheat consignment to go to Afghanistan on humanitarian grounds.”
Pakistan and South Asia
Zahra Baloch said Pakistan’s relations with South Asian countries, including Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, were very good.
“There is contact with the Afghan authorities regarding border management and security, it is expected that the Afghan authorities will abide by their assurances,”.
The spokesman further said that the decision of the Afghan authorities to ban women’s education was disappointing, and it is expected that the Afghan authorities will revisit their decision.
The spokesperson said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif participated in the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, and Pakistan played a dynamic role in important regional organizations.
