MULTAN – Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi lashed out at Afghan National Security Advisor Hamdullah Mohib over his maligning remarks against Pakistan.
While addressing party workers in Multan on Saturday, the minister said: “You [Mohib] should be ashamed for maligning Pakistan”.
Advising the top Afghan official against using such language, he pointed out that Pakistan played a key role in helping the war-torn country achieve stability.
He said that the Afghan NSA should review his anti-Pakistan remarks, adding that such moves create hurdles in the peace process.
Qureshi said that world had acknowledged the Pakistan’s role in the peace process.
Pakistan would soon move towards FATF’s white list
Talking about the recent acknowledgment of Pakistan’s efforts to plug loopholes by Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) Asia/Pacific Group (APG), Qureshi said that the government has taken serious steps to curb money laundering.
He said that that there is no justification to keep Pakistan on grey list. He hoped that Pakistan would soon be added to FATF’s white list.
Lashing out at previous governments, he said that some people had tried to put Pakistan on black list.
PM adopted clear stance on Palestine issue
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has adopted a clear stance on Palestinian issue, adding that Pakistan played an important role to stop Israeli aggression in Gaza.
He pointed out that Pakistan took up the Palestine matter at UN through OIC and Arab League fora.
What remarks were made by Afghan NSA?
Last month, the Afghan NSA, addressing a public gathering in Nangarhar province, had termed Pakistan a “brothel house”.
The remarks sparked anger in Pakistan with Islamabad who rejected them, saying they “debased all norms of interstate communication.”
FO responds to Mohib’s remarks
On May 17, Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) termed Mohib’s remarks “irresponsible statements and baseless allegations”.
Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri, in a statement, had said Pakistan had lodged protest with Afghan ambassador in Pakistan over the maligning remarks.
Pakistan has emphasised that groundless accusations erode trust and vitiate the environment between the two brotherly countries and disregard the constructive role being played by Pakistan in facilitating the Afghan peace process, the statement had said.
