ISLAMABAD    -   Pakistan yesterday said that it wanted result-oriented dialogue with India and urged New Delhi to stop bloodshed in held Kashmir.

Speaking at a weekly news briefing here, Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmed said that Pakistan’s position vis-à-vis the importance of friendly cooperative relations with neighbours including India was very clear.

“The need for dialogue, a dialogue which is a result oriented and a meaningful dialogue which can lead to progress on outstanding issues including particularly the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is very obvious,” he said.

He added: “We have said that the environment for such dialogue is not there, this is what the Foreign Minister has also said recently. The environment has been vitiated by Indian actions, and the onus is therefore on India to take necessary steps to create an environment which will be conducive for dialogue. Now what the Indians have been saying all along, this bogey of terrorism, it’s an old repeated, parroted position, it has no locus standi, especially coming from India which itself is a state sponsor of terrorism, involved in supporting, financing, perpetrating terrorism and sabotage in Pakistan over the years, including in the past through its presence in Afghanistan.”

India, he said, also uses the ploy of terrorism to undermine the legitimate struggle for self-determination of the Kashmiri people and to divert the attention of the international community from its widespread atrocities and human rights violations in IIOJK.

On Afghanistan, he said Pakistan had condoled the loss of precious lives and damage to property caused by the tragic earthquake in Paktika province of Afghanistan and its adjoining areas, and torrential floods in various provinces across the country.

“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a telephonic conversation with Acting Prime Minister of the interim Afghan government, Mullah Muhammad Hassan Akhund to offer condolences and prayers for the departed souls and wished speedy recovery for the injured,” he said.

On the directives of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, he said, Pakistan had dispatched relief goods to Afghanistan on 22 June 2022. Government and people of Pakistan stand ready to extend all possible support to ameliorate the suffering of the Afghan people in this difficult time.

On the remarks that were made in the Canadian Parliament recently by a member, Ahmed said: “We have taken up this issue with the Canadian government. We have underlined that freedom of expression entails responsibility, and that Pakistan takes serious exception to the baseless and unsubstantiated remarks that have been made. Pakistan and Canada have a multifaceted relationship and we wish to deepen our bilateral ties based on mutual respect and trust and such incidents are not helpful in that context.”

The spokesperson said that in its plenary meeting last week in Berlin, the Financial Action Task Force acknowledged the completion of Pakistan’s Action Plans of 2018 and 2021 covering 34 items, especially the early completion of the 2021 Action Plan in a record timeframe, and also authorized an onsite visit to Pakistan, as a final step to exit from the grey list. Minister of State Hina Rabbani Khar led Pakistan’s delegation to the FATF Plenary, and had a detailed press interaction on return.

In their statements, he said, Prime Minister Sharif and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari welcomed the development and commended the hard work and dedicated efforts of Pakistan’s FATF team that led to the successful completion of all technical requirements of both FATF Action Plans.

“They acknowledged the concerted national efforts and complete harmony of interests by all stakeholders and reaffirmed the Government of Pakistan’s commitment to continue this positive trajectory of reforming the financial sector as part of its larger strategic objective of strengthening Pakistan’s economy. They also expressed hope for a successful on-site visit and early culmination of the process leading to Pakistan’s exit from the grey list,” he added.

The spokesperson said on June 20, the first batch of 90 Pakistani students has returned to China on a special chartered flight to continue their on-campus studies.

“Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had made a special request for the return of students to China for on-campus studies during his meeting with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in China on 22 May. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Federal Education & Professional Training, HEC and the Embassy of Pakistan in Beijing have been actively engaged in efforts for facilitating the return of the students. It is expected that the successful arrival of the first batch would pave the way for return of all Pakistani students to China for on-campus studies,” he elaborated.

About the Group of Friends event in New York he said that the meeting was quite significant. “The event was attended by a large number of member states and United Nations entities. Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari delivered the Keynote Address and you would have followed that. This meeting was a sequel to the initiative that Pakistan took last year together with like-minded countries that led to the consensus adoption of a resolution by the UN General Assembly on the issue of countering disinformation for promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms,” he said.