Islamabad, February 16, 2023 (PPI-OT):Pakistan says raids on BBC’s offices in India are another manifestation of shrinking space for freedom of media there and are a stain on India’s democratic credentials. Responding to questions at her weekly news briefing in Islamabad on Thursday, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said these raids are reprisals of BBC’s documentary on Gujrat massacre of 2002 and India’s illegal and unilateral steps in Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir on August 5th, 2019.
She said as human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir continue unabated, Pakistan continues to raise concerns about the situation and calls for just and peaceful settlement of the dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolutions. The Spokesperson said Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is travelling to Germany today to attend the Munich Security Conference. He will then travel to Lithuania where he will sign MoU on the establishment of bilateral political consultations.
In the last leg of his tour, the Foreign Minister will visit Hungary from 21st to 22nd of this month and will deliberate upon the entire spectrum of bilateral relations and exchange views on regional and international issues. He will also sign two MoUs on bilateral cooperation between diplomatic academies and another on sports and education between the two countries.
The Spokesperson said second round of Pakistan-US mid-level Defence Dialogue is underway in Washington to discuss a range of issues including defence and security cooperation in the broader regional and global context. The Pakistani delegation in the dialogue is led by Chief of General Staff Lieutenant General Muhammad Saeed while the US side is led by US Acting Assistant Secretary of Defence for Indo Pacific Security Affairs Dr. Ely Ratneu.
Mumtaz Zahra Baloch announced that Counsellor of the US Department of State Derek Chollet is travelling to Pakistan from today on a three-day visit with an interagency delegation. The visit will focus on bilateral engagement process which has been institutionalized in trade and investment, climate change, clean energy, health, security, education, and other shared priorities.
Long-term cooperation with the United States on flood rehabilitation and recovery will also be discussed. She also briefed about Pakistan’s humanitarian assistance to earthquake affected areas of Turkiye and Syria and said so far 12 flights, 21 NLC trucks have been dispatched to Turkiye and 2 flights and 12 trucks dispatched to Syria.
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