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Spokesperson Briefings

Date: 10/04/2006

RECORD OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE ADDRESSED BY THE FOREIGN OFFICE SPOKESPERSON ON 10 APRIL 2006

Opening Statements

1. Visit of the President of Yemen's (10-11 April, 2006)

President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen has arrived in Pakistan on a two-day visit at the invitation of the President of Pakistan. President Saleh's programme includes meetings with the President and Prime Minister. This visit will carry forward the process of enhancing bilateral relations and renew the decisions taken at Sana'a during President Musharraf's visit in December 2005. He will also have a meeting with the representatives of business community. Five agreements were to be signed by both sides. The agreements are: Co-operation in the field of Media; Protocol on Co-operation in the field of Sports and Youth Affairs; Agreement on Tourism Cooperation; Memorandum of Understanding between Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority and Yemen's Authority for Specification Standardization and Quality Control; Co-operation in the fields of Standards, Quality and Specifications and Memorandum of Understanding between Export Promotion Bureau of Pakistan and Technical Board of Yemen Exports Supreme Council.

2. Visit of Prince Karim Agha Khan

His Highness Prince Karim Agha Khan also arrived in Pakistan. His Highness has held meetings with President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. This is his second visit since December 2005. He had come to see the devastation caused by the earthquake at that time. He also announced $ 50.3 million US at the Donor's Conference.

3. Protest over the killing of a Pakistani fisherman:

An official of the Indian High Commission was called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today to protest over the killing of a Pakistani fisherman. On March 18, 2006 at about 1800 hours, a Pakistani boat “Al-Kalsoom” with seven crew members was fishing within Exclusive Pakistani Economic Zone. The Indian Coast Guard Navy vassal, along with a helicopter chased it and then opened fire, as a result of which one fisherman was killed on the spot. The Government of Pakistan has protested to the Indian Government over this provocative act in which one precious life was lost”.

QUESTION/ANSWER SESSION

- Asked, whether Prince Karim Agha Khan had handed over the aid amount of US$ 50.3 million to Pakistan, the Spokesperson said:

His Highness pledged this amount at the Donor's Conference, held in Islamabad in November 2005. This may have been channeled through the Agha Khan Foundation or Agha Khan Rural Development Program.

- When her comments were sought on Condoleezza Rice's statement that the US was working for a fissile material moratorium between Pakistan and India and Richard Boucher's statement that Pakistani functionaries' demand for an equal treatment was “strictly for the birds”, the Spokesperson said:

Are they? The statement that the US is negotiating a Pakistan-India fissile material moratorium is “strictly for the birds”.

- When her attention was drawn to a statement attributed to her in a newspaper column, the other day that Pakistan had agreed to discuss with India a cap on nuclear weapons programme and what was Pakistan's position on fissile material capping? the Spokesperson said:

I did not make that statement. This is a totally incorrect statement which is the figment of some news agency's imagination. It should be totally disregarded. I don't know which agencies have concocted this baseless statement. We had proposed to India a Strategic Restraint Regime” and we have not had a response to that.

On fissile material our position is that we are willing to participate constructively in the negotiations on the Fissile Material Treaty, if and when negotiations on this start in the CD.

- When her comments were sought on an advisory issued by the US Government asking its citizens not to undertake unnecessary visits to Pakistan, the Spokesperson said:

The US Administration has been issuing travel advisories regularly and updating them from time to time. This is almost identical to the one that was issued some time back. We have been talking to the US Government about the desirability of modifying these travel advisories and their negative impact on US investment in Pakistan. However, it is a fact that there have been some terrorist incidents. There was a terrorist attack on the US Consulate just before the President Bush's visit, in which innocent people were killed. While we can discuss who was behind that attack and whose interest such terrorist attacks serve, the fact remains that there is a situation which we are trying to address and we hope that we will be able to over come this.

- When her attention was drawn to a recent official directive to Parliamentarians issued by the Cabinet Division not to establish direct contact with the Indian High Commission, the spokesperson said:

I don't think there is a decision that singles out any one Embassy or High Commission. There are government guidelines about interaction with foreign missions and the Cabinet Division issues these instructions. The directive was not India-specific and it has not been issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

- To a question about Pakistan's position on the US interest in obtaining observer's status in SAARC, the Spokesperson said:

The Standing Committee of SAARC is meeting in Dhaka in which criteria for observer status will be discussed. Then the Committee will take up the already approved applications of China and Japan. Naturally, once the criteria is decided other applications can be considered.

- In response to an observation that Pakistan's reaction to the US-India deal in civilian nuclear technology was an exercise in damage control and whether Pakistan had undertaken inter-agency consultations on this matter, the Spokesperson said:

This is not an exercise in damage-control. Even before this deal was signed, we had stressed our energy requirements and the need for the US and other NSG members to adopt a non-discriminatory approach.

We made a comprehensive statement after details of the agreement became public. Our concern has been heightened by provisions in the agreement that could have serious implications for the strategic stability in the region. Also, we feel that it is discriminatory because both Pakistan and India are nuclear weapon States which are not part of the NPT. Instead of making exception for one, a package deal would have been preferable that would have taken care of energy requirements of the two countries, the strategic stability in this region and the global non-proliferation efforts.

- Asked whether Washington kept Pakistan informed about details and step by step negotiations of its nuclear agreement with India, the spokesperson said:

We, like of everyone else, were aware of the fact that an agreement on cooperation in the filed of civilian nuclear technology was being negotiated. But we were not aware of its details and there was no “step by step” sharing of information.

- When asked to comment on Boucher's statement on “restoration of Democracy in Pakistan” the spokesperson said:

Pakistan's position on democracy and the process of democratization has been made amply clear by our leadership. I don't think that I can add anything more to that. Essentially these are matters for the government and the people of Pakistan to discuss and decide.

- When her comments were sought on suspension of assistance to Hamas, the spokesperson said:

We have repeatedly said that Hamas is the elected representative of the Palestinian people. This is democracy at work. We believe that the international community must engage Hamas.

- To a question regarding appointment of lobbyists in the US and the role they play, the spokesperson said:

Appointment of Lobbyists in Washington was a recognized and legitimate practice. Most countries had lobbyists in the US to promote bilateral relations. We also have lobbyists in Washington. The objective of appointing lobbyists is to promote bilateral relations, project Pakistan's point of view and counter negative propaganda.

- When her comments were sought on threat of US attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, the spokesperson said:

Pakistan has repeatedly said that it was opposed to military action. We do hope that there will be some positive outcome and forward movement.

- When her attention was drawn to a report implying that Pakistan had bribed members of the US 9/11 Inquiry Commission to drop from its findings negative references to Pakistan, the spokesperson said:

The report is utterly baseless and full of distortions and obviously aimed at making a sensational story. The Public Accounts Committee had enquired about the role of lobbyists that we engage in Washington. The PAC's query was in connection with a specific appointment in 1989. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs briefed the PAC about the role of lobbyists and our lobbying efforts to disseminate and project our point of view. Engaging lobbyists is a well-established common practice in some of the western capitals including Washington. The PAC meeting was open to the media. It is reprehensible that such an allegation has been made which questions the integrity of the Government of Pakistan and implies that the Government of Pakistan is involved in some illegal activity. At the same time it questions the integrity of the members of the 9/11 Commission.

- To a question regarding declaration of Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA) as a terrorist organization and US Assistant Secretary Richard Boucher's statement and whether Pakistan would approach the US in this regard, the spokesperson said:

Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA) has been declared a terrorist organization and approaching the UN Sanctions Committee for designating any Pakistani outfit as terrorist entity is the privilege of the Government of Pakistan.