Response demonstrates Pak commitment: FO
Friday, February 13, 2009
Probe report handed over to Indian HC
By Qudssia Akhlaque
ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Thursday underscored that Pakistans response to the Indian dossier on Mumbai attacks showed the governments sincerity in seriously resolving the issue and hoped that India would reciprocate in the same spirit of cooperation.
Our response has yet again demonstrated our sincerity, earnestness and our commitment to fighting terrorism and our sincerity to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to justice, Foreign Office spokesperson Abdul Basit told a weekly news briefing.
Basit was addressing the first news briefing after his appointment as the new Foreign Office spokesperson last week. To a question regarding the international communitys concern about the delayed response to the Indian dossier, he asserted: Our findings clearly show that we are sincere in our investigations and we hope that India will respond in the same spirit of cooperation. He confirmed that Pakistan had formally communicated its response to the Indian side earlier in the day.
The Indian high commissioner in Islamabad was called to the Foreign office today and the material pertaining to the Mumbai terrorist attacks probe by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) was handed over by the foreign secretary, the spokesperson said in a statement afterwards.
Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir on Thursday also briefed the G-8 heads of mission as well as representatives of China and the European Union (EU) on the progress made in the FIA investigation into the Mumbai terrorist attacks, the spokesperson said.
During the briefing, Pakistans desire to uncover the full facts and assist in bringing the perpetrators to justice as well as the governments commitment to resume the process of normalisation with India were underscored, he noted, adding: The G-8 countries expressed their satisfaction over the steps taken by Pakistan and termed them significant and positive.
The spokesperson was evasive when asked if there was any likelihood of a high-level political contact between Pakistan and India in the near future. That cannot be ruled out but I would not like to anticipate at this stage, is all he said.
He was equally non-committal to a query regarding the status of the pending water disputes with India, saying: I will refer you to the authorities concerned dealing with this issue. The spokesperson maintained that Pakistan had not received any request from the international community to interview nuclear scientist Dr AQ Khan, who was declared a free citizen by the Islamabad High Court last week.
He declined to comment on the question of whether the security cover being provided to Dr AQ Khan by the government meant that his movements were being monitored. His non-committal response was: This is mere speculation and I have no comments in this regard.
There was no clear answer from the spokesperson when asked if President Barack Obama had raised the issue of Dr AQ Khans release with President Zardari on Wednesday. I am not aware whether this issue was raised during the telephonic conversation. However, it came under discussion during Richard Holbrookes visit and we reiterated our position that as far as we are concerned, this is a closed chapter, he categorically stated.
Continuing on the subject, he added: We also reiterated our commitment to non-proliferation. We have put in place necessary legislative and administrative measures to ensure effective export controls and to prevent any possibility of proliferation from Pakistan.
He side-stepped the question whether the issue of US drone attacks inside Pakistan was raised with Ambassador Richard Holbrooke during his meetings with the Pakistani leadership, saying: Foreign Minister Qureshi has given a detailed briefing on the special representatives visit and his meetings and I have nothing new to add to that.
On the question of detained Dr Aafia Siddiquis release, the spokesperson referred to her sisters recent meeting with the prime minister and US Special Representative Ambassador Holbrooke and stated: We are working on the issue and we hope that our efforts will yield positive results.
At the outset, spokesperson Basit announced that President Asif Zardari will be visiting China from Feb 20-23. During the trip, the president would also travel to Hubei, Yichang and Shanghai regions, the industrial hubs of China.
The visit will provide an opportunity to both sides to explore avenues of economic cooperation and investments, particularly in agriculture, industry and energy sectors, the spokesperson noted.
Replying to a question, he said it was not clear whether any new bilateral agreements would be signed during the visit as the programme was still being worked out. The presidents visit will strengthen the all-weather and time-tested friendship between Pakistan and China and deepen our multi-faceted strategic and economic cooperation, the spokesperson stated.
When the spokespersons comments were sought on the Polish governments contention that some individuals within the Pakistani government might be involved in the murder of Polish engineer, he said: We are still awaiting confirmation from our agencies on the killing of the Polish geologist. But if it is true, then we obviously condemn this reprehensible act and we are committed to bringing the culprits involved to justice.
On efforts to recover the abducted UNHCR official, the spokesperson said the security agencies were working on it. We hope that through continued efforts of our agencies, Mr Solecki will be recovered soon.
When his attention was drawn to reported accusation by the Afghan government that terrorist attacks in their country have roots in Pakistan and asked if these allegations had been officially conveyed to Pakistan, he said: I am not aware of any official contact in this regard.
Spokesperson Basit disagreed with the view that it was a diplomatic failure that the commission formed by the UN secretary-general to probe the assassination of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto was a fact-finding mission and not investigative in nature as Pakistan had initially demanded. The terms of reference of this commission have been worked out in consultation with Pakistan and I do not see any failure of diplomacy on our side, he underlined.
Asked when the probe would be formally initiated by the commission and its members arrive in Pakistan, he said: The dates are being worked out and as soon as anything is finalised, it will be announced accordingly. To another question regarding the cost of the commission, he said Pakistan would pay the seed money and some members of the United Nations would also contribute.
Response demonstrates Pak commitment: FO