Opening Statement

The Foreign Minister, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, the Foreign Secretary and all officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs express their deep condolences on the tragic plane crash in Islamabad yesterday. Our thoughts are with those who have lost their loved ones in this tragedy. May Almighty Allah bless the departed souls and give fortitude to the bereaved families to bear their irreparable losses (Ameen).

The people and the Government of Pakistan are thankful to all those foreign leaders who have sent messages of condolence and shared our national grief.

President Zardari will visit France from August 1 – 3, 2010. This will be the second important engagement with the French leadership following the President’s visit to Paris in May last year. The President will exchange views on bilateral, regional and global issues with the French leadership and convey our interest in expanding relations in economic, trade, investment and science and technology and cultural fields. The two sides are cooperating on counter-terrorism. Pakistan and France value this partnership which is characterized by close coordination at the bilateral level as well as in the context of the European Union. France is also a valuable partner in the FODP process. France as a member of Aid to Pakistan Consortium has been extending financial assistance to Pakistan since 1961. The volume of Pakistan – France bilateral trade stood at US$ 1.1 billion in 2009. A significant number of Pakistani manufacturers and exporters participate in French trade fairs. Several renowned French companies are present in Pakistan. There are approximately 70,000 Pakistanis living in France to make positive contributions to French society.

Question-Answer Session:

Q: Has the President’s visit to UK been postponed or cancelled, if so what are the reasons and what is your response to Mr. Cameron’s statement against Pakistan and what steps are the Government of Pakistan taking in response?

A: First of all the President’s visit to Britain is on. The programme is being finalized and it would be announced shortly. As regards your second question, obviously we are saddened by Prime Minister Cameron’s remarks in Bangalore to an Indian audience. These remarks evidently lack objectivity and are contrary to facts on the ground. As you know these have been prompted by the leaks on Wikileaks website. One can never draw right conclusions from baseless and skewed reports. Secondly, I would say that it is important that we do not create unnecessary hype around these reports and get distracted. The world knows very well how Pakistan is contributing in the ongoing fight against terrorism and we will continue doing that because it is also in our interest.

Q: The US Secretary of State during her visit to Pakistan said that Osama was hiding in Pakistan following that Wikileaks made allegations against Pakistan then Prime Minister Cameron spoke against Pakistan in India. Now Mr. Karazai has challenged NATO to conduct raids in Pakistan against the Taliban. Do you see a design behind this? Is this an attempt to isolate Pakistan?

A: Yes we have seen the reported remarks made by President Karazai and earlier by Mr. Spanta and found them as incomprehensible. We have asked our Ambassador in Kabul to seek a clarification from his host government.

Q: The Foreign Office has always stated that the world acknowledges the role Pakistan is playing in the war on terror. How would you explain Mr. Cameron’s statement?

A: I said earlier these remarks are based on the reports or the documents which themselves are based on raw intelligence and as a matter of fact on disinformation. So you cannot draw right conclusions from misguided reports. Beyond that as far as our contributions, our efforts against terrorism are concerned, those are acknowledged world-wide. Even if you see the statement which was issued by the US National Security Adviser subsequent to the disclosure of these documents on Wikileaks, he acknowledges Pakistan’s contributions in counter-terrorism and our efforts and successes against militancy and violent extremism. These reports, to be honest with, you cannot belittle whatever Pakistan has achieved over the last 2-3 years. Our actions speak for themselves. Let me emphasis that the baseless reports leaked by Wikileaks are evidently self-serving to justify collective failing of the international community in Afghanistan by certain quarters.

Q: Sir you said that we are seeking a clarification from Mr. Karazai’s Government for the remarks he made. However we don’t see a similar response from Pakistan in case of Mr. Cameron. Can you kindly explain that? Are we following a double standard approach?

A: There are no double standards. We have seen remarks made by the British Prime Minister and we see the context in the sense that those were based on Wikileaks reports. Hence, we have expressed our sadness over these remarks, which have been made in India. As far as the reported remarks by President Karzai and the earlier remarks by Mr. Spanta are concerned, we found these incomprehensible given the fact that we all know well that during the last two years Pakistan and Afghanistan have been cooperating very closely with each other against terrorism and we do not see any reason as to why these remarks should have been made.

Q: Mr. Rehman Malik has said that he is in contact with the Indian side. Does this mean that back door channels for dialogue are still open with India after the Indian Foreign Minister’s recent visit to Pakistan? Are we engaging in back door diplomacy?

A: No there is no back door diplomacy. We have nevertheless received a condolence message from the Indian External Affairs Minister, Mr. S.M. Krishna to our Foreign Minister expressing deep condolences over the plane crash yesterday.

Q: In addition to the accusations by Ms. Hillary Clinton, Wikileaks, Mr. Cameron and Mr. Karazai, Admiral Mike Mullen also alleged that Osama was hiding in Pakistan. How do you see this phenomenon? Will Pakistan take any concrete measure to express its anger at Mr. Cameron’s statement for instance? Will the President of Pakistan either cancel or postpone his visit to the UK?

A: These accusations have been coming up for years now but the question is what is the factual position on the ground. The facts are that Pakistan has been making all-out efforts against terrorism and we have achieved successes, especially in the last two years against militancy and terrorism. Our record speaks for itself and this malicious campaign which is going on now for years against Pakistan and our security agencies particularly ISI, cannot belittle our achievements against militancy and violent extremism. There are forces that would like to continue with this malicious campaign against Pakistan. But as far as the Western leadership is concerned, they do acknowledge the work Pakistan is doing and doing so under very trying and challenging circumstances. Pakistan as you all know has suffered enormously in the fight against terrorism.