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Spokesperson Briefings

Date: 02/01/2006

RECORD OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE ADDRESSED BY THE FOREIGN OFFICE SPOKESPERSON ON 02 January 2006

OPENING STATEMENT

The Crown Prince of Thailand, accompanied by his Royal Consort, will visit Pakistan on 4-5 January 2006. He will bring with him additional relief assistance for the earthquake victims on behalf of Their Majesties, The King and The Queen of Thailand.

Thailand has already contributed US $ 1.2 million comprising cash donation, as well as assistance in kind.

QUESTION/ANSWER SESSION

- When her comments were sought on Indian position that there was nothing ‘extraordinary' about its offering comments on developments in Baluchistan specially when Pakistan was waving a red rag at India every day, the Spokesperson said:

Pakistan fully adheres to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. As a matter of policy, we do not make statements about situations in other countries, even though they may be very serious.

As for the statement that there is nothing ‘extraordinary' about the statement that is tantamount to interference in the internal affairs of another country betrays the psyche of a bully; a bully that sees red everywhere. Our advice to the Indian officials is to mind their own business.

- Asked again, with reference to the previous question, whether the resulting acrimony would not be hurt the peace process ahead of the start of the third round of the Composite Dialogue Process, the Spokesperson said:

As we stated last week, the statements of this nature do tend to vitiate the atmosphere which we have worked so hard to build for sustaining the bilateral Composite Dialogue Process in order to find a peaceful and just solution to the Kashmir dispute and other differences between our two countries.

- Asked about the significance of forthcoming visit to Pakistan by an APHC delegation led by Mir Waiz, and whether they were carrying some proposals regarding the resolution of the issue of Jammu and Kashmir as well, the Spokesperson said:

The APHC delegation led by Mir Waiz Umer Farooq is arriving in Pakistan today from Delhi . We welcome this visit specially because involvement of and interaction with the Kashmiri leaders is very important in the context of moving the peace process forward. Naturally, when the Kashmiri leadership is here, they will meet with the Pakistani leadership. They will also interact with media as they have done in the past.

Interaction with the Kashmiri leadership is an ongoing process. As we have stated on numerous occasions which is our policy that any solution of the Kashmir dispute has to be acceptable to all the three stakeholders which is Pakistan, India and the people of Kashmir. Naturally an interaction and exchange of views with the Kashmiri leadership is important.

I cannot prejudge what proposals Kashmiri leaders are bringing. They will have meetings here, and there will be exchange of views on various ideas.

- When her comments were sought on the statements by the President, Baluchistan Chief Minister and Federal Information Minister that some foreign elements were involved in the situation in Baluchistan , the Spokesperson said:

We would not like to elaborate on it at the moment, but yes there are indications of foreign involvement.

- In response to a question with regard to confusion about the actual implementation of SAFTA, the Spokesperson said:

Pakistan is in the process of ratifying the SAFTA Agreement. The Ministry of Commerce issued a detailed Press Release yesterday, which outlines the status of the four annexures under the Agreement. While three of them are to come into force from July, one annex is expected to enter into force on the completion of the ratification process by all the member states. At the moment, five countries have ratified it while two of them are in the process of ratifying it.

- Asked about the status of discussions on the Pakistani President's proposals on Jammu and Kashmir , and whether converting the LoC into a permanent border was also being discussed, as had been reported by a section of the press, the Spokesperson said:

We have repeatedly said that we cannot discuss the status and nature of these ideas. The President said in Lahore recently that these proposals are being discussed, and when the right time comes, they will be made public and there can be public discussion on them.

Jammu and Kashmir is a disputed territory, so there is neither Indian part of Kashmir nor any Pakistani part of Kashmir and status quo is not a solution to the Kashmir dispute.

- Asked why there had been a delay in the visit to Pakistan by Bush Senior, because relief matters required urgency, the Spokesperson said:

There is no delay; the dates are being worked out, and we expect the visit to take place around the third week of January.

- Asked about the delay in opening Mumbai and Karachi Consulates-General, and whether Pakistan had renounced its request for acquiring Jinnah House for this process, the Spokesperson said:

The two Consulates General are to open simultaneously. They were supposed to start operating from the beginning of January. We did locate a property in Mumbai and advance payment was also made to the owner. But we have been told that some people around that property have some reservations, and we hope that these hurdles will be overcome at the earliest, so that the Consulates-General can be opened.

Our position on the Jinnah House is clear. We have located a temporary accommodation till we have a settlement of the Jinnah House issue.

- Asked about the agenda of the Japanese Foreign Minister's forthcoming visit to Pakistan , the Spokesperson said:

The visit is in the bilateral context. The two sides will be reviewing the whole gambit of bilateral relations. There will be an exchange of views on regional and international situation. He will also express solidarity with the people and Government of Pakistan over the earthquake tragedy.

- When her comments were sought on a news story appeared in a German daily that Pakistan could be used for a possible U.S attack on Iran , the Spokesperson said:

This news report is totally baseless.

- In response to a question regarding the swapping of lists of nuclear installations by India and Pakistan , and if there was any difference between the lists exchanged by the two countries the previous year and the ones exchanged this year, the Spokesperson said:

I do not have the lists right now. The purpose of exchanging the lists every year is to update them. I would have to look at the last year's list and compare it with this year's to see if there is any difference. However, the very purpose of making it an annual event is to ensure that if there is any new facility, then it would be included in the list.

- When her attention was drawn to the reported issue of the detention and torture of some Pakistanis by Greek authorities, the Spokesperson said:

Our Mission in Athens got in touch with Greek authorities immediately after learning about the reported detention and torture of Pakistanis. The Greek Government has assured us in very categorical terms that there were no detentions and no torture. Secondly, they indicated that one member who, according to them, is responsible for moving this case was under investigation for the violation of some immigration laws. The Greek Government has appointed an Attorney/Prosecutor to look into the case, and we await the report of the investigations. We have seen the media report, but we will have to wait for the report of the independent Attorney on this. The Parliamentary watchdog Committee of the UK has also asked for a report in this regard.

The Mission got in touch with the Pakistanis involved in this matter as well, and sought a meeting with them a number of times, but somehow there was some reluctance on their part to meet the Embassy officials, the meeting, therefore, has not taken place as yet.

- In response to a question about Pakistan 's nuclear programme, the Spokesperson said:

Pakistan is a nuclear weapons state; that is a reality. The refining and up-gradation of our nuclear arsenal is an ongoing process, and we are maintaining it at the minimum deterrence level which depends on regional situation and our own requirements of maintaining that minimum deterrence.

- Asked about the fate of the Pakistanis who had returned from Guantanamo Bay , because there had been reports that there freedom of movement had been curbed by the security agencies of Pakistan , the Spokesperson said:

I do not think that there is any restriction on these people. On the contrary, the government's efforts would be to help these people reclaim their lives and become part of the mainstream society again.

As for the specific allegations, I would advise you to contact the Ministry of Interior.