Islamabad: Pakistan has once again stated that provocative statement by the Indian Defence Minister has raised alarms in all thinking and conscious organizations; vested in peace, security and stability and upholding of international law.
This was stated by the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Tahir Hussain Andrabi at his weekly media briefing in Islamabad on Friday.
The FO Spokesperson said the statement of the Indian Defence Minister was deeply troubling. He said Pakistan welcomes all the statements made in opposition to the statement. He also urged India to refrain from issuing such provocative statements for a very grave consequence on the wider peace and security of the region and beyond.
Replying to a question about not sharing of the data in connection with Indus Water Treaty by the New Delhi government, Tahir Hussain Andrabi said this Indian action to not follow the prescribed the procedures of data sharing in follow up of the Indus Water Treaty is matter of grave concern and violation of the Treaty.
He added that the rhetoric emerging out from New Delhi, accompanying this violation of Indus Water Treaty, very significantly points towards weaponization of water, which is a breach of international law, particularly the international humanitarian law.
FO Spokesperson said that while Pakistan remains committed to peaceful resolution of all disputes with India on the basis of justice, equity and established international legal norms, Pakistan is firmly resolved to safeguard its security, national independence and sovereignty.
Tahir Hussain Andrabi said that we have also noted with grave concern the findings by the United Nations Experts on India's illegal measures in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
The United Nations report, once again, underscores the severe and systematic human rights violations endured by the Kashmiri people under Indian occupation.
The UN experts have rightly raised alarm at extensive arbitrary arrest and detention of nearly 2,800 Kashmiri individuals, including journalists, students, and human rights advocates. The persistent application of draconian legislation, such as the Public Safety Act (PSA) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), has facilitated indefinite and unjustifiable detentions.
He said that the Kashmiris under illegal Indian occupation are suffering from torture, custodial deaths, incommunicado detention, denial of due legal process and family contact, punitive demolitions and forced evictions, recurring communication blackouts, and suppression of press freedom - including the blocking of 8,000 social media accounts - as well as the rise in hate speech.
These findings reaffirm Pakistan's longstanding concerns regarding state-sponsored persecution of Kashmiri Muslims as well as discrimination against minorities across India.
Across India, lynching, and harassment directed at Kashmiris and Muslim communities are equally deplorable and deeply troubling.
He said that Pakistan calls upon India to cease its coercive measures and to unconditionally release all those arbitrarily detained in IIOJK. We further urge India to take concrete steps to end the persecution of all religious minorities, particularly Muslims Christians and others.
Tahir Hussain Andrabi said that Pakistan reiterates its commitment to a peaceful, just, and enduring resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, in accordance with the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.
Pakistan will continue to extend moral, political, and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people in their just struggle against foreign occupation and for right to self-determination.
He said that Pakistan has noted with deep concern that Flag-hoisting at the so-called 'Ram Temple' constructed on the site of the historic Babri Mosque in Ayodhya with deep concern. The Babri Mosque, a centuries-old place of worship, was demolished on 6 December 1992 by the extremist mobs inspired by fascist ideologies. The subsequent judicial processes in India, which acquitted those responsible and permitted construction of a temple on the demolished mosque's site, speak volumes about the Indian state's discriminatory approach towards minorities.
FO Spokesperson said that Pakistan calls on the international community to take cognizance of the rising Islamophobia, hate speech and hate-motivated attacks in India. The United Nations and relevant international bodies must play a constructive role in safeguarding Islamic heritage and ensuring protection of the religious and cultural rights of all minorities.
Pakistan, in the strongest possible terms, condemns these attacks across Gaza which have resulted in the deaths of several Palestinian civilians, including women and children, and have left many more wounded.
Such actions constitute a blatant violation of international law, relevant UN resolutions, and the recently concluded peace agreement at Sharm el-Sheikh. These attacks also undermine international efforts aimed at achieving lasting peace and stability in the region.
Pakistan reaffirms its principled position in favor of the establishment of an independent, sovereign, viable, and contiguous State of Palestine, based on pre-June 1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
He said that Pakistan has been re-elected to the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for the term from 2026-2028. Elections of this body were held at OPCW in The Hague this week.
He said that being an active member of the OPCW, Pakistan has previously served on the Executive Council since its ratification of the CWC in 1997. It has contributed constructively towards the fulfillment of the objectives of the CWC and regularly hosts OPCW routine inspections at its relevant facilities. The re-election of Pakistan to the 41-member Executive Council of the OPCW is a testament to Pakistan's positive role within the Organization, reaffirming the confidence of Member States in Pakistan's ability to provide effective leadership and impetus to the work of the OPCW.
Answering yet another question the Foreign Office Spokesperson clarified the ceasefire between Pakistan and Afghanistan does not imply a traditional ceasefire, implemented after two belligerent states in a war or a conflict situation.
He said Pakistan-Afghanistan ceasefire implied that there would be no terrorist attack by Afghan sponsored terrorist proxies into Pakistan.
Ambassador Tahir Andrabi said there have been major terrorist attacks after this ceasefire. He said interpreting in that sense, the ceasefire is not holding because the ceasefire was about ceasing terrorist attacks inside Pakistan by TTP, Fitna- al-Khawarij, and Afghan nationals using Afghan soil.
The Foreign Office Spokesperson explained that if Afghan nationals are attacking, as they did so in Islamabad and elsewhere, Pakistan cannot be very optimistic about ceasefire, which in any case is not the traditional ceasefire between the two states, but to be understood in the context of terrorist attacks from Afghanistan.
Ambassador Tahir Andrabi made it clear that our security forces remain fully alert in wake of any threat from Afghanistan. Our military preparedness is robust. The security challenges Pakistan faces would be addressed with the seriousness that they merit.