Pakistan rubbishes Wakhan Corridor annexation reports, says territory part of Afghanistan
“I have seen this endless speculation,” says FO spokesperson.
Pakistan, Afghanistan understand importance of relations: FO.
Afghan government urged to act against terrorist groups.
Pakistan on Thursday categorically rejected the reports of any annexation of Wakhan Corridor, calling it a part of neighbouring Afghanistan. However, it reiterated the call for the Afghan government to act against terrorist groups enjoying sanctuaries across the border.
“I have seen this endless speculation. Wakhan is part of Afghan territory. Afghanistan is a neighboring country. We recognise its sovereignty and territorial integrity. There is no question of Pakistan having designs on one of its neighbors. I deem it speculative and totally erroneous actually,” newly appointed Foreign Office Spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said in his maiden weekly press briefing.
He said that both Pakistan and Afghanistan understood the importance of relations and wanted to nurture good ties but the key problem was the terrorists’ sanctuaries on Afghan soil.
He said both countries were in contact on the matter through an ongoing multilayered engagement.
The spokesperson expressed deep concern over the increasingly racist and Islamophobic political and media commentary in the UK aimed at conflating the reprehensible actions of a few individuals with the entire 1.7 million British-Pakistani diaspora.
Strongly rejecting the “baseless” accusations and “unfounded” assertions made by India’s Defence Minister and Chief of Army Staff on January 13 and 14, he said Jammu and Kashmir remained an internationally recognised disputed territory, whose final status was to be determined in accordance with relevant United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.
“In this context, India has no legal or moral grounds to assert fictitious claims over the territories of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.”
The spokesperson referred to the hosting of the international conference on girls’ education in Islamabad last week attended by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif; Secretary General OIC Hissein Brahim Taha; Muslim World League Secretary General and Chairman of the Organization of Muslim Scholars Sheikh Dr Mohammed bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa, besides high-level officials, ministers and dignitaries from a number of other Islamic countries.
He said that the Islamabad Declaration, adopted by the moot, “underscored girls’ education as a fundamental right protected by divine laws, Islamic teachings, and international charters and further emphasized aligning education with Islamic principles, national priorities, and global advancements, aiming to empower women and foster stable and peaceful communities.”