—– Adds Pakistan hopes to further enhance trade with other countries
—– Asserts Pakistan is concerned over terror threat emanating from Afghanistan
By Asghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has made a formal request to join BRICS, an important group of developing countries.
This was confirmed by Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch at her weekly news briefing in Islamabad on Thursday. The spokesperson said the government had taken this decision after having noted the BRICS-related developments in Johannesburg.
She said by joining the organisation, Pakistan could play an important role in furthering international cooperation and revitalisation of inclusive multilateralism.
She hoped that BRICS would move forward on Pakistan’s request in line with its commitment for inclu-sive multilateralism.
The spokesperson said Pakistan enjoyed friendly ties with most members of the BRICS as well as the newly-invited group of countries.
Baloch said Pakistan was an ardent supporter of multilateralism and was member of several such or-ganisations. She said the country had played an important role for global peace and development.
When asked about the conspiracy foiled by the United States to assassinate a Sikh leader, the spokes-person recalled that Pakistan had long been a target of India’s state-sponsored terrorism, subversion and espionage.
She said India’s network of espionage and extraterritorial killings had gone global. Condemning and expressing concerns over it, she said India’s irresponsible and reckless conduct was a clear violation of international laws.
Responding to a question about the banning of Halal Food in Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Baloch said this was yet another manifestation of increasing Islamophobia in India. She said the banning of Halal Food was an affront to the rights and freedoms of Muslims in India.
Pakistan, she said, was concerned over the terror threat emanating from Afghanistan. She said the government expected the Afghan authorities to take immediate action against the terrorist entities so that they would not pose any threat to Pakistan.
The spokesperson said Pakistan supported the call for an international peace conference on Palestini-an question.
Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar will undertake an official visit to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to participate in the World Climate Action Summit scheduled to commence on the 1st of next month as part of the UN Climate Change Conference COP28.
The FO spokesperson said the foreign minister and the minister for climate change would be part of the delegation. She said the prime minister’s schedule in Dubai includes participation in the high-level events at the summit and bilateral meetings with counterparts from participating countries.
The prime minister will present Pakistan’s vision for climate change and call for implementing common climate commitments across all areas including mitigation, adaptation, climate finance and loss and damage fund.
At COP28, the spokesperson said, Pakistan will work with other developing countries and seek opera-tionalization of the loss and damage fund for climate vulnerable countries.
She said Pakistan will also reiterate its call on the developed countries to urgently and fully deliver on the long overdue goal of mobilizing one hundred billion dollars per year as climate finance for develop-ing countries.
The spokesperson said foreign minister Jalil Abbas Jilani will visit Belgium to attend the International Conference on Global Alliance to Counter Migrant Smuggling being held on the 28th of this month.
