By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has no plans to resume trade with India, its foreign office said on Friday, as the situation in Indian-administered Kashmir remains unchanged since New Delhi’s controversial revocation of its special status in 2019.
“The situation remains intact, and at this point, there are no bilateral talks between the two countries with respect to bilateral trade between Pakistan and India,” Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told a weekly media briefing.
Baloch noted that a number of measures were taken by Pakistan after India’s “illegal and unilateral steps” in Kashmir, including the suspension of bilateral trade. “You would recall the developments that took place in 2019 and the illegal and unilateral steps taken by India in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir,” she said. “Following that, several measures were taken by Pakistan, including the suspension of bilateral trade.”
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, handling almost bankrupt economy, has expressed willingness to reevaluate trade relations with India. However, Baloch’s comments indicate that no progress has been made.
Baloch condemned the killing of four Kashmiri youths by Indian forces in the Doda district of Indian-administered Kashmir.
“We urge the international community to take immediate and decisive action to hold India accountable for its egregious human rights violations in Indian-administered Kashmir and to take steps to protect the rights and freedoms of the Kashmiri people,” she said.
Pentagon reaction
The Foreign Office welcomed the Pentagon’s refusal to comment on the recent arrests of senior ex-servicemen in Pakistan. “I do not wish to welcome a statement or lack thereof which was not even expected from a foreign government,” Baloch said. “A foreign government, as we have said on multiple occasions, need not comment on the domestic affairs of Pakistan.”
“So if a government refrains from making a statement, they are doing the right thing and the Government of Pakistan does not need to welcome that”.
Bangladesh accusations
The foreign office rejected accusations of Islamabad’s involvement in the ouster of Bangladesh’s former premier Sheikh Hasina.
“There is absolutely no truth to such allegations,” Baloch said. “Pakistan believes that the people of Bangladesh have the capacity to settle their own affairs and determine their future without the support of the international community or unsolicited advice from outsiders.”
Hasina, 76, stepped down as prime minister amidst a student-led uprising and fled by helicopter to her close ally New Delhi on August 5, marking the end of her 15-year rule.
Her son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, claimed in a recent interview that the protests in Bangladesh were likely influenced by a foreign intelligence agency, pointing specifically to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The accusation was also repeated by several members of Hasina’s political party, the Awami League, since her ouster.
Baloch said Pakistan would continue to support and extend its “best wishes” to the people of Bangladesh.
Doha talks
Pakistan welcomed any initiative promoting peace in the Gaza ceasefire talks in Doha.
“We have always welcomed any initiative that may lead to peace and dialogue and resolution of the current situation,” Baloch said. She called for an end to the “massacre and genocide” of the Palestinian people by Israel.
The truce talks resumed in Qatar’s capital on Thursday without Hamas, which blamed Israel for blocking a deal and demanded the enforcement of earlier agreements. Months of negotiations have failed to secure the release of hostages in Gaza or stop the rising death toll from Israel’s war, which has surpassed 40,000 since Oct 2023.
Pakistan does not recognize the state of Israel and calls for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters” and the pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
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