Pakistan preparing to take up drone issue at UN: FO

Mariana Baabar Friday, September 13, 2013 The News ISLAMABAD: For the first time since the Nawaz Sharif-led government took over, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it had initiated ‘necessary’ work to take up the issue of illegal US drone strikes at the United Nations. “The All Parties Conference (APC) has recommended that the federal government may consider the possibility of taking the drones issue to the United Nations. We have initiated the necessary work in this regard in consultation with our missions in Geneva and New York. The position of the Government of Pakistan on drone strikes is principled and clear. Drone strikes violate our sovereignty and international law and they are also counter-productive,” spokesman at the Foreign Office announced at the weekly media briefing. In the backdrop, Masood Khan, Pakistan’s permanent envoy at the United Nations, was recently in Islamabad for consultations and this was one issue that was discussed threadbare during internal meetings, The News understands. “An international debate is now well underway on the humanitarian and human rights implications of the drone strikes as well as their legitimacy and effectiveness. The Foreign Ministry will be taking all possible steps to implement the recommendations of the APC in the most-effective manner,” the spokesman said. To several queries, he reiterated that there had been no agreement on the use of drone strikes inside Pakistan and the government continues to see these strikes as a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and a violation of international law. However, to a query, the spokesman refrained from identifying the country whose airbases are being used to carry out these strikes. Meanwhile, the FO had no answer when asked under what law the Afghan Taliban were detained and again what legal process if any was used to release them. As the spokesman passed on the query to the Interior Ministry, he clarified that the continuous release of the Taliban was in response to demands from ‘various’ quarters, including the Afghan High Peace Council, and Pakistan acted to support the Afghan reconciliation process. “The philosophy is very clear. Pakistan believes that reconciliation in Afghanistan will be facilitated by participation of all stakeholders in an Afghan-led process. The release of the Taliban detainees by us should be seen in that spirit,” he said.However, he said Pakistan did not keep track of the released Taliban and he had no idea where they went next. APP adds: The FO spokesman said so far Pakistan had released 33 Taliban prisoners and announced the release of Mullah Baradar. He, however, said he did not have any knowledge about the total Afghan detainees in Pakistan. The spokesman said the Pakistan government was in touch with the concerned authorities in Afghanistan and the United States on the release of Taliban prisoners. To a question, the spokesman said Pakistan will not interfere in internal affairs of Afghanistan and extend all-out support and assistance for the success of reconciliation process there. “We support a political solution that is Afghan owned and Afghan led and ready to extend full support for it.” On Pakistan-India relations, the spokesman said Adviser on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz will hold talks with Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid in Kyrgyzstan on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit. He said both the leaders will discuss the bilateral relations. About the proposed meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh in New York later this month on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session, he said both the governments are in touch to work out dates for this meeting. He said this meeting will provide an excellent opportunity to the two sides to discuss matters of mutual interest.The spokesman said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was also undertaking a three-day visit to Turkey from Monday. The spokesman said the news regarding discussion by Nawaz Sharif with the Turkish leadership on the issue of shifting the Taliban office from Doha to Turkey were baseless and speculative.Expressing concern over the loss of innocent lives in Syria, the spokesman said Pakistan demands an all-inclusive political dialogue to find a solution to the issue.