ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Ministry on Thursday distanced itself from the visit of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman to Kabul, saying that the Pakistan government did not support it. Speaking at a weekly press briefing in Islamabad, FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch initially refused to comment on the visit, but later claimed that the politician had gone to Afghanistan privately. However, she added that the FO will request a briefing from him. The spokesman added that Pakistan was not interested in dialogue with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). “The banned TTP has carried out several terrorist attacks in Pakistan. We demand that the interim government of Afghanistan take action against the terrorists.” The FO spokesperson said that Pakistan believes in dialogue and diplomacy while commenting on the visit of Afghan Commerce Minister Nooruddin Azizi. “Various issues were discussed during the visit of the Afghan Minister of Commerce.” “Balakot Raid, Nightmare for India” Meanwhile, Pakistan has termed former Indian diplomat Ajay Bisaria’s claims about the events surrounding the botched Balakot strike in 2019 as “surprising”. “Such a statement by a professional diplomat is surprising,” said the FO spokeswoman. An FO spokeswoman said she had not read the book by Bisaria — a former high commissioner to Pakistan — and had only come across reports of it in the media. “Pulwama drama was staged for a political game. It reflects India’s fascist mentality,” she added. Baloch further said that the Balakot raid turned out to be a nightmare for India as the Pakistan Air Force shot down Indian planes. Earlier in the day, Bisaria noted in his forthcoming book The Anger Management: The Troubled Diplomatic Relationship between India and Pakistan that on the night of February 27, the day after the Balakot airstrike by the Indian Air Force , Pakistan feared an imminent attack. from India. He claimed that former prime minister Imran Khan made a panicked midnight phone call to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 27, 2019, after the Balakot airstrikes in an attempt to avert a military crisis, Indian media reported, citing the former high commissioner’s memoir. to Pakistan. In addition, Baloch said Pakistan condemned the terrorist attack in Iran’s Kerman, in which dozens of people were killed after two blasts rocked the city near the burial site of its slain military commander Qasem Soleimani. FO supports South Africa’s claim against Israel at the ICJ Pakistan supports South Africa’s application to the International Court of Justice regarding Israel’s violation of its obligations under the 1951 Genocide Convention in relation to the Palestinian people in Gaza. “We see this legal action as timely and an important step in holding Israel accountable for its well-documented atrocities committed against the Palestinian people since October 7, 2023,” she said. Pakistan shares the concerns raised in South Africa’s request, she added. “Israel’s continued military aggression and actions against the Palestinian people constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity and amount to acts of genocide,” The FO reiterated its call for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, an end to Israel’s massacre of the Palestinian people and the lifting of the inhumane siege, and the speedy delivery of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. “Pakistan firmly believes that the only just solution to the Palestinian issue is the creation of an independent viable sovereign and contiguous Palestinian state along the pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital,” Baloch said during the briefing.
