Three-day Envoys’ Conference conducted its policy review here on Tuesday on the first day of the moot with Minister for Foreign Affairs Khawaja Asif in the chair.
Top Pakistani envoys, senior officers from various ministries and attached departments attended the moot which commenced here with the soaring ties between Pakistan and United States of America over the Afghanistan quagmire as top agenda.
Pakistan’s Ambassador to United States Aizaz Chaudhry, Ambassador to Russia Qazi Khalilullah, Ambassador to China Masood Khalid, Ambassador to UK Ibne Abbas, and ambassadors to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Japan, European Union, Afghanistan, Iran, and India are participating.
In the opening session, Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif inaugurated the conference. Addressing the conference, the minister briefed the members to come up with their suggestions over the overall policy of the country. He said that the fast changing developments in the region and on the global arena had added to the significance of the moot.
Referring to the recent speech of US President Donald Trump on the eve of the announcement of his policy review on South Asia, the minister said that Pakistan wanted its sacrifices to be acknowledged. He said no coercion could change ground realities.
An informed source told Pakistan Today that the participants were given a detailed briefing over the situation by Foreign Secretary Ms Tehmina Janjua. The source said that director generals of various regions also came up with their input over the situation.
The official said that one must expect fruitful outcomes of ongoing conference as Pakistan needs to formulate its policy in view of the threatening statement of Donald Trump. The official said that once the final decisions are taken, the participating envoys will be able to convey the stance of Pakistan to the respective governments in their host countries. The source said it was the best time to hold such a conference in order to work out the future strategy for the country.
“Pakistan is a nuclear power and has number of resources so its importance in the region can never be ignored. We have managed to improve our relations with China and Russia which is a positive development,” the official added.
The participants will discuss potential strength of the foreign policy and options available in view of the current geo-political and regional situation. Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will chair the concluding session.
