Day: May 27, 2022

Islamabad, May 27, 2022 (PPI-OT):Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in his virtual meeting today with Congressman Adam Smith, Chairman, US House Armed Services Committee, briefed him on the Indian illegal actions of August 5, 2019 in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and its continued atrocities against the Kashmiri people.

The Foreign Minister specifically drew Congressman’s attention to the steps recently taken by India to redraw the constituencies in IIOJK through an illegal delimitation process in order to change the Muslim majority into minority in the occupied territory. Pakistan would remain proactive in exploring opportunities and overtures for steering South Asia towards peace, security and stability.

The Foreign Minister, who is in New York to attend the food security conference and to address the UN Security Council, had this virtual conversation with Chairman Adam Smith in Washington DC. The Foreign Minister and the Congressman had detailed discussion on strengthening bilateral Defense ties and agreed on the need for sustained engagement in this area.

The Foreign Minister emphasized the importance of further strengthening business-to-business and commercial ties and allowing the U.S. entrepreneurs the opportunity to benefit from the immense potential offered by Pakistan’s unique economic geography. The Foreign Minister invited Congressman Smith to visit Pakistan. Congressman Smith accepted the invitation.

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PPP Media Cell (Sindh)

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)

Peoples Secretariat Shikarpur Colony,

Behind Mazar-e-Quaid-e-Azam, Karachi, Pakistan

Cell: +92-305-3370383

Email: contact@ppp-tu.com

Website: https://www.ppp.org.pk

Islamabad, May 27, 2022 (PPI-OT):Pakistan strongly condemns another abhorrent attempt of the Indian Government to deprive the Kashmiri people of their true leadership in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). In a highly reprehensible development, Hurriyat leader Mr. Yasin Malik has been convicted today in a manifestly dubious and motivated case, dating back to 2017, filed against him by National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Predictably, the one-sided case has not only convicted Mr. Yasin Malik on fictitious charges in defiance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) but also attempted to make conjectural insinuations about Pakistan.

The renewed haste with which cases against Kashmiri leadership are being pursued further exposes the nefarious Indian designs to undermine historic and distinct political and cultural identity of IIOJK. The conviction of Mr. Yasin Malik and conjuring up of motivated cases against the Kashmiri leadership is patently the continuation of the malicious Indian campaign to deprive the Kashmiris of their true leadership.

The inhuman incarceration of Mr. Yasin Malik in the infamous Tihar jail, his sham trial in concocted cases, fallacious conviction, and malfeasant attempts at defiling the legitimate struggle of the Kashmiris for their right to self-determination as “terrorism” further illustrate India as a serial violator of human rights and usurper of the fundamental rights of the Kashmiris. The struggle for the right of self-determination in Kashmir is indigenous and cannot be dampened by the draconian strong-arm tactics of the Indian Government.

Pakistan urges the Indian government to refrain from victimizing the true representatives of the Kashmiri people through inhuman detentions and trumped up charges. India must release all political prisoners detained on trumped-up charges, stop human rights violations in IIOJK, lift the brutal military siege, and let the Kashmiri people exercise their right to self-determination in accordance with their aspirations and relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

Pakistan also urges the international community to counsel India to drop all fabricated charges against all political leaders of IIOJK including Mr. Yasin Malik, ensure their safety and well-being, and provide them complete legal protections, including the right to a free and fair trial.

For more information, contact:

PPP Media Cell (Sindh)

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)

Peoples Secretariat Shikarpur Colony,

Behind Mazar-e-Quaid-e-Azam, Karachi, Pakistan

Cell: +92-305-3370383

Email: contact@ppp-tu.com

Website: https://www.ppp.org.pk

Islamabad, May 27, 2022 (PPI-OT):Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari emphasized the importance of a broad based and sustained engagement between Pakistan and the US in his telephone call today with Senator Lindsey Graham. Senator Graham invited the Foreign Minister to visit Washington DC for detailed interaction with members of Senate leadership. Foreign Minister accepted his invitation. Exchanging views on various aspects of Pakistan-U.S. relations, the Foreign Minister highlighted Pakistan’s immense potential for US investors, especially in tech, energy and agriculture sectors.

Senator Graham endorsed the long-standing bilateral relationship between both countries and assured the Foreign Minister of his continued support for enhancing the partnership, especially in the economic realm. Senator Graham is the Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee and serves on Senate Appropriations, Judiciary, and Environment and Public Works Committees.

For more information, contact:

PPP Media Cell (Sindh)

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)

Peoples Secretariat Shikarpur Colony,

Behind Mazar-e-Quaid-e-Azam, Karachi, Pakistan

Cell: +92-305-3370383

Email: contact@ppp-tu.com

Website: https://www.ppp.org.pk

Islamabad, May 27, 2022 (PPI-OT):In his conversation with Congressman Ami Bera, Chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee on Asia and the Pacific, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that Pakistan and the U.S. have mutual desire to further strengthen their partnership and promote frequent exchanges between the lawmakers of the two countries. The Foreign Minister said that sustained engagement with the U.S. Congress was essential for giving support to Pakistan-U.S. ties, which had stood the test of time.

Congressman Ami Bera appreciated the Foreign Minister’s proactive outreach to enhance Pakistan-U.S. relations and thanked Pakistan for facilitating evacuations from Afghanistan. He said that a stable Afghanistan was in the mutual interest of both the U.S. and Pakistan. The Foreign Minister highlighted the urgency of addressing the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.

The Foreign Minister said that the recent reengagement had opened new doors for broad-based relationship especially in the areas of trade and investment, educational and people to people contacts as well as enhanced parliamentary exchanges.

The Foreign Minister thanked Congressman Ami Bera for his keen interest in forging closer ties between the United States and Pakistan and the evolving situation in Afghanistan. He thanked the Congressman’s recent visit to Pakistan which, he said, was a good confidence building measure. The Foreign Minister and the Congressman agreed on the need for both sides to continue engagement.

For more information, contact:

PPP Media Cell (Sindh)

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)

Peoples Secretariat Shikarpur Colony,

Behind Mazar-e-Quaid-e-Azam, Karachi, Pakistan

Cell: +92-305-3370383

Email: contact@ppp-tu.com

Website: https://www.ppp.org.pk

Islamabad, May 27, 2022 (PPI-OT):Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari participated in the Ministerial Meeting on ‘Global Food Security Call to Action’ in New York today. In his statement, the Foreign Minister lauded the initiative to unite and mobilize the international community to respond to the urgent food security and nutrition challenges being faced by the world, which had been further aggravated by the recent geo-political developments.

The Foreign Minister said that Pakistan had the potential to not only meet its own food security needs but also that of the region and the world. However, suffering from the vestiges of colonialism, turbulent history, constant quest to improve democracy, and caught in the cross-hairs of global geo-politics, Pakistan had been unable to unlock its agricultural and economic potential. He added that Pakistan faced existential threats of climate change, COVID-19 pandemic and poverty, which resulted in food, water and energy insecurity.

Welcoming the ‘Roadmap for Global Food Security’ presented at the Ministerial meeting, the Foreign Minister expressed the hope that the initiative would not only motivate countries with resources, but also provide assurances to those who face challenges due to resource constraints.

The Foreign Minister said that despite limited resources, Pakistan had never shirked its responsibility in times of a humanitarian crisis. Pakistan was playing a leadership in advocating for humanitarian aid for the people of Afghanistan, and had provided humanitarian aid to Afghanistan as well as Ukraine.

He added that hunger has no nationality, poverty does not care for the skin colour, infections do not recognize borders, and the threat of climate catastrophe does not recognize ethnicities. He underscored that wars aggravated the challenges of poverty and hunger, and created humanitarian crisis in their wake. Emphasizing the importance of dialogue and diplomacy to resolve disputes peacefully, the Foreign Minister stressed that the new generation looked up to the world leaders to unite to overcome these challenges, and to ensure that vaccine and healthcare are a right, and not a privilege. He said that his generation was looking towards the United Nations to deliver the peace it was promised, and the peace it deserves.

The Ministerial Meeting was convened by the United States to mobilize action around the key objectives of addressing and mitigating the impacts of the global food security crisis. Chaired by the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, it brought together a regionally diverse group of countries to evolve a shared vision for confronting global food security challenges.

For more information, contact:

PPP Media Cell (Sindh)

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)

Peoples Secretariat Shikarpur Colony,

Behind Mazar-e-Quaid-e-Azam, Karachi, Pakistan

Cell: +92-305-3370383

Email: contact@ppp-tu.com

Website: https://www.ppp.org.pk

Islamabad, May 27, 2022 (PPI-OT):Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari held a meeting with the President of the United Nations General Assembly (PGA) and Foreign Minister of Maldives, Mr. Abdulla Shahid, in New York today. The Foreign Minister commended the PGA on his excellent stewardship of the General Assembly during his “Presidency of Hope” and his efforts to mobilize the Assembly in building concrete response to the multiple old and new challenges confronting the world today.

The Foreign Minister underscored that, as the Chair of the Group of 77 (G-77), Pakistan has worked diligently to advance the development agenda in the General Assembly and other relevant UN forums. He underscored that Pakistan and the G-77 hoped to achieve tangible outcomes for ensuring COVID vaccine equity, preventing global food crisis, mobilizing financing for recovery from the pandemic, securing fulfillment of climate finance commitments, and accelerating investment in sustainable infrastructure in developing countries.

Emphasizing the importance of the UN Security Council reform process, the Foreign Minister stressed that any decision on the issue needs to be reached with consensus of UN member states. The Foreign Minister appreciated the recognition of 15th March as the International Day to Combat Islamophobia by the UN General Assembly, and reaffirmed Pakistan’s resolve to work closely with the PGA in evolving an agreed plan of action to combat Islamophobia.

The Foreign Minister underlined that durable peace between Pakistan and India will only be possible if the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is resolved on the basis of the UN Charter, relevant Security Council resolutions and the wishes of the Kashmiri people.

He called for the reversal of the illegal and unilateral steps taken by India in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) since 5 August 2019. The Foreign Minister also briefed the PGA on the illegal ‘delimitation’ exercise in IIOJK aimed at altering the demographic composition of the occupied territory in complete violation of international law including the 4th Geneva Convention and the UN Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir dispute.

For more information, contact:

PPP Media Cell (Sindh)

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)

Peoples Secretariat Shikarpur Colony,

Behind Mazar-e-Quaid-e-Azam, Karachi, Pakistan

Cell: +92-305-3370383

Email: contact@ppp-tu.com

Website: https://www.ppp.org.pk