By Muhammad Luqman
Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that Pakistan would neither let its soil be used against any other State nor become part of any regional conflict.
In telephonic conservations with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Iran, UAE and Turkey on Sunday, Qureshi highlighted Pakistan’s deep concern over the recent developments and underscored the imperative of avoidance of conflict, exercise of maximum restraint, and de-escalation of tensions, according to a foreign office statement.
Foreign Minister renewed the call on all parties concerned to abide by the UN Charter and principles of international law to settle differences through peaceful means.
Sharing Pakistan’s perspective, he expressed the hope that the progress made in the Afghan peace process would be preserved and further advanced.
The Foreign Minister reiterated Pakistan’s readiness to continue to play a role in preventing further escalation and maintaining regional peace and stability.
Pakistan Army’s spokesperson has also made it clear that the South Asian nation will not be party of any move that disturbs the peace in the region and will not take sides in the US-Iran conflict.
Commenting over the recent developments in the Middle East, Major General Asif Ghafoor, Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), told a Pakistani television channel ‘ARY News’ that Pakistan desires regional peace but at the same time, it would not compromise on its national security.
He also debunked social media reports that Pakistan would stand by US in a war against Iran. Maj General Ghafoor said such baseless rumours were circulating on social media. “My request to the people and media would be to only pay attention to statements from an authentic source,” he said, adding that they should not believe in the propaganda and rumours being spread by the enemies of the country,” he added.
He said that the regional scenario has changed after the killing of Iranian Commander General Qasem Soleimani and Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) had already given its statement over the incident.
“In this scenario, Prime Minister [Imran Khan] and the Army Chief [General Qamar Javed Bajwa] has adopted a very clear stance that Pakistan will not allow its soil to be used against anyone and play its strong role for regional peace,” Major General Asif Ghafoor said.
DG ISPR said that the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had held telephonic discussions with the Pakistan Chief of Army Staff (COAS) on two points on January 3.
