FO condemns maltreatment of minorities, atrocities in IOJK by India

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal has strongly condemned maltreatment of minorities through controversial legislation of citizenship bill in India and continuation of atrocities in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJK), ARY News reported on Thursday.

Dr Mohammad Faisal, while addressing a weekly press conference at FO today, slammed that the inhumane curfew in IOJK entered into its 132nd consecutive day. He said that Indian authorities are carrying out actions which violate human rights in the occupied valley.

The real face of India was exposed after the emergence of the controversial citizenship bill and Islamabad condemns maltreatment of minorities, said the FO spokesperson.

Read: Dr Faisal urges world to take notice of blatant rights violations in IOJK

Faisal detailed that Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi participated in Heart of Asia conference where he met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as well as the diplomatic core of the regional states. The foreign minister briefed the dignitaries regarding the ongoing HR violations in IOJK, said, Faisal.

He added Qureshi had boycotted the address of an Indian minister in the international conference. The spokesperson announced Pakistan will boycott India over international forums whenever it is needed. Faisal said that the Indian government is gradually being sidelined after it adopted Hindutva philosophy.

He further said that Pakistan and Russia had conducted the sixth meeting of Inter-Governmental Commission (IGC) in Islamabad for holding trade talks. Faisal added that the seventh round of talks was organised in Hague for enhancing bilateral ties between Pakistan and Netherlands.

Read: FM discusses Kashmir issue, regional security with Saudi counterpart

The spokesperson said the foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has recently visited Saudi Arabia. He announced that FO will soon unveil details of the forthcoming visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to Bahrain.

While commenting over Afghanistan peace talks, Faisal said Islamabad welcomed direct dialogues between the United States (US) and Afghan Taliban. He added that Pakistan is supporting the political and peaceful solution of Afghanistan issue besides facilitating Afghan peace reconciliation process.