Pakistan scrambles for damage control over GB attack

With Islamabad set to send one of its two top Foreign Ministry officials to Beijing today (Tuesday) to assure the Chinese leadership about a thorough probe into the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) incident, the United States and China have offered Islamabad their support in investigation into Sunday’s killing of foreign tourists in Diamir district.

The government will send either Sartaj Aziz, adviser to PM Nawaz Sharif on Foreign Affairs or Tariq Fatemi, special assistant to the prime minister on foreign affairs, to China and this government’s emissary would leave today (Tuesday), the diplomatic sources said.

The Pakistani envoy would convey condolences from Pakistani leadership to the top Chinese leadership and extend firm assurance that stern action would be taken against the culprits and that all possible measures would be taken for the security of Chinese and other foreign nationals in Pakistani.

The Pakistani leadership sees the killing of tourists, including Chinese citizens, as an attempt to damage Islamabad-Beijing ties. It was only last month that Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited Pakistan as part of a regional tour.

Diplomatic sources said the Pakistani envoy going to Beijing would also share the results of investigations hitherto carried out into the GB incident.

Pakistani foreign policy managers continued to receive phone calls from various diplomatic missions on Monday, especially those from the western nations to express their concerns over the gory incident.

As many as 10 foreign tourists were murdered in the remote area of Gilgit-Baltistan that included nationals of China and Ukraine as well as a Chinese-American and a Nepali citizen.

Militant outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) later claimed responsibility for the deadly assault in the famous Pakistani tourist region.

According to sources, Beijing and Washington had offered help to Pakistani investigators.

“In case of Pakistan’s approval, American FBI and Chinese investigators could visit Islamabad soon and extend all possible help for the ongoing probe into the GB incident,” a source said, seeking anonymity.

The sources said some Western nations could issue travel advisory to their nationals who intended to visit Pakistan to opt for maximum care during their stay in Pakistan.

According to media reports, Britain updated the travel advice for its citizen visiting Pakistan after the killing of foreign tourists in Gilgit-Baltistan.

“An attack targeting and killing foreign tourists occurred at the Nanaga Parbat base camp area, Gilgit-Baltistan on the night of June 23,” said the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), on its website, according to British media report.

“There is a high threat from terrorism, kidnap and sectarian violence throughout Pakistan,” the FCO said.

“However, the Foreign Office stopped short of advising against travel to the region, meaning British holidaymakers due to travel there will not be entitled to a refund from their tour operator if they decide to cancel,” the report said.

The sources said Pakistani foreign policy managers were currently trying their best to allay the concerns of the global community and it was expected that a member of cabinet would be sent to Ukraine to avert negative impact of GB incident on bilateral ties.