Pakistan hopes Ukraine conflict to be solved soon: FO

Celina Ali

Islamabad: Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch has expressed the hope that Ukraine conflict will be solved soon on the basis of negotiations and Pakistan is ready to play its part in promoting a dialogue to end this war.

Responding to a question at her weekly news briefing in Islamabad on Friday, she said Pakistan and Russia are friends we have a very solid relationship. She said Pakistan’s engagement with Russia will continue and Islamabad is concerned about sufferings of the civilian population on both sides.

Replying to another question, the Spokesperson said Pakistan has raised his concerns with the Afghan interim authorities at level regarding the use of Afghan soil in carrying out terrorist activities inside Pakistan. She said Pakistan expects that Afghanistan will adhere to its commitments it made with the international community to not allowing any individual or group to use its soil to pose threat to regional peace and security.

Regarding Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba ongoing visit to Pakistan, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said it has been the first ever move of this kind since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries in 1993. She said Pakistan and Ukraine has agreed to enhance mutually beneficial cooperation in trade, investment, higher education, agriculture, defence, and information technology for the mutual benefit of both countries. They agreed on the importance of regular dialogue and engagement and decided to hold meetings of various institutional mechanisms in due course. She further said that it was also agreed to deepen cultural exchanges and people-to-people contacts.

The Spokesperson also spoke about the founder and President of Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party Shabbir Ahmad Shah, who completed six years of his continued detention this month. She said incarcerated currently in New Delhi’s infamous Tihar Jail, Shabbir Shah has spent 36 years in prison for his political views. She said that the total period of his confinement exceeds half of his life. He was rightly called by the ‘Amnesty International’ as a “Prisoner of Conscience”.

Mumtaz Zahra Baloch urged India to put an end to the protracted imprisonment of Shabbir Shah and thousands of other Kashmiri political leaders and activists, whose “basic crime” is to demand their inalienable right to self-determination. These political prisoners must be released and acquitted of the fabricated charges against them.

Updating the media persons on the Greek Boat Tragedy, Spokesperson said two separate flights carrying the mortal remains of four Pakistanis who perished in the disaster have arrived in Lahore and Islamabad. She said the mortal remains have been handed over to the families in the districts of Gujrat and Gujranwala. She said Pakistan Mission in Greece has made plans for the transportation of the remaining dead bodies within the next few days. She said we also remain in contact with the Greek authorities for identification of the victims.