Islamabad, Mar 7 (PTI) Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led new government’s foreign policy and its relations with other countries, including neighbours, would be known after the formation of the Cabinet, the Foreign Office said on Thursday.
Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch was asked several questions regarding a post on X by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to felicitate Shehbaz Sharif on election as premier of Pakistan.
“It (Modi’s tweet) is one of the several messages of felicitations that we have received, or the Prime Minister of Pakistan has received, since his assumption in office and his election as the Prime Minister,” she said.
“As you know, the Cabinet formation is yet to take place and once the Cabinet is in place, we will have a direction with regard to the foreign policy and Pakistan’s relations with other countries, including its neighbours. We would then be in a better position to respond to queries on how this will impact Pakistan’s interaction with India in the coming days,” she said.
Baloch added that Pakistan would like to have good relations with all its neighbours, including India, but these relations must be based on respect and equality.
She added that Kashmir will “always be a priority” when such an engagement takes place.
She also said that Pakistan will continue to extend political, diplomatic and moral support to Kashmiris.
To another query, she said Pakistan has always said that it would welcome mediation by friendly countries. “When such a proposal comes to us formally and only then we will be able to respond,” she said.
When asked about the visit of Prime Minister Modi to Kashmir, she said the visit seems to be part of India’s “efforts to portray normalcy” in the region.
When asked about External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s statement that SAARC is in trouble because one of its members is engaged in violent actions against other members, she alleged that “there is only one country and that is India which is hindering development of SAARC”.
Ties between India and Pakistan strained after a terror attack on the Pathankot Air Force base in 2016 by terror groups based in Pakistan.
The relationship nosedived after India’s warplanes pounded a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp deep inside Pakistan on February 26, 2019, in response to the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed.
The relations deteriorated further after India announced the withdrawal of the special powers of Jammu and Kashmir and the bifurcation of the state into two union territories in August 2019.
India has repeatedly told Pakistan that Jammu and Kashmir “was, is and shall forever” remain an integral part of the country. New Delhi has told Islamabad that it desires normal neighbourly relations with it in an environment free of terror, hostility and violence. PTI SH ZH ZH
