FO condemns drone hit as violation of sovereignty

Foreign Office (FO) condemned the recent drone attack inside Pakistan by United States.
FO said drone attacks are counterproductive and violation of its sovereignty.
“Pakistan has clear position on drone attacks and it has disadvantage over tactical benefits,” said the foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit in his weekly briefing at Foreign Office.
The spokesperson said these attacks also arise the question of violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and added, sovereignty of the country could not be condoned. Replying to a question the spokesperson said, “Pakistan does not have diplomatic relations with Israel as Pakistan has not recognized it so far.”
Answering a question about Pak-India relations and status of Most Favourite Nation to India, the spokesperson said Ministry of Commerce has been working with India to remove negative list and the MFN status would be finalised by October this year to promote bilateral trade.
He said the Ministry of Commerce has been engaged in this issue and in contact with all the stakeholders before final decision on it by the government, although the federal cabinet has taken the decision to give MFN status to India in principle.
Giving details about the tragic incident of boat capsizing in Indonesia that killed a number of people including 50 to 60 Pakistanis, the spokesperson said Pakistan’s embassy in Indonesia is in contact with the Indonesian authorities and an expert from Pakistan has also reached there for identification of the dead bodies.
He said so far not a single Pakistani has been identified due to the decomposition of the bodies and Pakistan has lodged a request to the Indonesian authorities for extending the date of burial of the dead bodies for two weeks so that more time could be available to identify the bodies.
The Indonesian authorities have fixed January 20 for the burial of dead bodies because they could not be identified due to severe decomposition.
On the issue of Iran’s nuclear programme and threats from the West, the spokesperson said Pakistan always said that this issue should be resolved through diplomatic resources in a peaceful manner.
He said the region is already in conflict therefore, it cannot afford to have any other conflict that will have negative impact in the region.
Regarding the visit of British ministers to Pakistan in the present circumstances, the spokesman said, it was scheduled visit in connection with increasing bilateral relations especially in trade.
Answering a question about helping Pakistanis in jails in different countries, the spokesman said, “Our missions and embassies always extend full help and assistance to the Pakistanis in jails” but facing problems due to domestic laws.