-Says measures taken in line with recommendations of ICJ
-Claims India does not wish for Jadhav to have consular access
-Urges opposition to act sensibly and understand India’s treacherous moves
-Rejects reports of giving airbases to US
DM Monitoring
MULTAN: Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that the PML-N “bungled” the case of Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav.
Speaking at a press conference in Multan on Sunday after laying the foundation stone of Albadar Park at Shah Rukn-e-Alam colony, the foreign minister said that the incumbent government has taken measures in line with recommendations of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
He was referring to the International Court of Justice (Review and Re-consideration) Bill, 2020 which was passed in a recent session of the parliament along with 20 other bills. The law will make provisions for fresh consular access to Jadhav under the ICJ judgement.
Qureshi said that India does not wish for Jadhav to have consular access, under the guise of which it wants to drag Pakistan back to the international court.
The foreign said that the government’s aim is only to implement the ICJ’s recommendations and “hopefully members of the Opposition will understand India’s treacherous moves and act sensibly”.
In response to a question, the foreign minister said that Pakistan had no intention to provide space for military bases to the United States and that there was nothing to hide regarding the recent visit by the chief of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as it was a routine visit.
He further said that “we want transparent accountability; we do not want revenge”. Qureshi said everyone’s honour is equally precious and everyone has the right to a fair trial. “However, the government will not allow anyone to become an obstacle in the process of accountability.”
Referring to the budget, he said that Minister for Finance Shaukat Tarin had made it clear that there was no intention of a mini-budget.
To a question about Ahsan Iqbal criticism regarding low budget for Defence, Foreign Minister suggested Ahsan to study budget book to know about the fact. “Ahsan Iqbal neither read the budget document nor listened to the budget speech and gave an uninformed statement,” he said.
He said the government would not give National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) to plunderers. While commenting on Bilawal Bhutto’s reaction on arrest of Khursheed Shah’s son Furrakh Shah, during media-talk after laying foundation stone of Albadar Park at Shah Rukn-e-Alam colony, Qureshi remarked that everybody had right to fair trial.
However, nobody could create obstacle in accountability process. Qureshi categorically stated that Prime Minister Imran Khan would not offer NRO to corrupt elements. About Hajj, He stated that Saudi government had decided to allow limited number of local people and some other citizens hailing from countries and already present there (Saudi Arabia) to perform Hajj.
Qureshi said that there were different variants of coronavirus in the world and this step would surely help avoid spread of coronavirus across the globe. About District Coordination Committee’s working, Shah stated that the DCCs were established at every district following direction from Prime Minister Imran Khan with mandate to monitor development projects regularly.
