Islamabad, May 25, 2023 (PPI-OT): Pakistan has appreciated China, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, Egypt and Oman for not attending the G-20 meeting in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). At her weekly news briefing in Islamabad on Thursday, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said these countries have stood for international law and for the primacy of the UN charter.
The spokesperson said Pakistan had categorically rejected India’s move to host the meeting of G-20 Tourism Working Group in Srinagar. She said India has clearly failed in hiding the reality in IIOJK behind a veneer of normalcy, as demonstrated by low level representation and the absence of a number of important invitees at the Srinagar meeting.
She said India hosted this meeting in IIOJK in complete disregard to the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions, principles of the UN Charter and international law. The spokesperson pointed out that the G-20 was established primarily to address global financial and economic issues. She said by holding this meeting in the occupied territory, India has politicized yet another international forum and is exploiting its position as the current Chair to advance its self-serving agenda.
Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said India should instead provide unhindered access to the international media and independent human rights organizations to report on the situation in IIOJK. The spokesperson said Pakistan for its part will continue to extend its moral, diplomatic and political support to the Kashmiri people’s just struggle for realization of their inalienable right to self-determination.
Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said Foreign Minister of Belarus Sergei Aleinik is undertaking a two-day official visit to Islamabad from 20th May. He said Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and the Foreign Minister of Belarus will hold wide ranging talks covering a range of topics of bilateral interest. The spokesperson said Foreign Secretary Asad Majeed Khan will travel to Azerbaijan and Georgia from 31st of this month to hold bilateral political consultations.
For more information, contact:
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
Government of Pakistan
4th Floor, Cabinet Block, Pak. Secretariat, Islamabad, Pakistan
Tel: +92-51-9103557
Email: info@moib.gov.pk
Website: http://www.moib.gov.pk