Ministry of Foreign Affairs (FO) Spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan, in his first weekly press briefing on Thursday, rejected reports of annexation of the Wakhan Corridor and said it was part of Afghanistan.
The Wakhan Corridor is a thin mountainous strip in the Badakhshan province of northeastern Afghanistan that extends to the relatively small border with China’s Xinjiang province. It also separates Tajikistan from the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan.
“I’ve seen this endless speculation. Wakhan is part of Afghan territory. Afghanistan is a neighboring country. We recognize its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” said the new spokesperson.
“It is not that Pakistan has plans for one of its neighbors. I consider it speculative and, in fact, totally wrong.”
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been strained due to frequent border skirmishes as Islamabad repeatedly demanded Kabul take action against the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for using Afghan soil to launch attacks in Pakistan. Kabul denies the accusations.
The spokesperson added that the two countries understood the importance of relations and wanted to foster good ties, but reiterated that “the key issue remained whether terrorists sought refuge on Afghan soil.”
He said both countries were in touch on the matter “through ongoing engagement at multiple levels.”
About the ceasefire in Gaza
Regarding the ceasefire in Gaza, the FO spokesperson called for its immediate and full implementation, adding that he hoped the truce would “lead to a permanent ceasefire and help increase humanitarian assistance.”
A day ago, the leaders of the United States and Qatar announced that Israel and Hamas had agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza – starting Sunday – and an exchange of hostages and prisoners, after 15 months of war.
“The indiscriminate use of force by the Israeli occupation forces has caused unprecedented loss of life and property and displacement of hundreds of thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians,” the spokesperson commented.
He also reiterated the country’s support for a “just, comprehensive and lasting solution to the Palestinian question, leading to the establishment of a sovereign State of Palestine.”
Responding to a question, the spokesperson said Pakistan would work to send more humanitarian convoys to Gaza once humanitarian aid began arriving in the territory again after the ceasefire.
On Trump’s inauguration, racist rhetoric against Pakistanis in the UK
Furthermore, Khan said that “Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington would attend the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, and the alleged invitation to Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto was not sent through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs”.
Furthermore, the spokesperson expressed deep concern about “increasingly racist and Islamophobic political and media commentary in the UK aimed at conflating the reprehensible actions of a few individuals with the entire British Pakistani diaspora of 1.7 million.”
Pakistan-China relations
Regarding positive developments, he said China and Pakistan reaffirmed their commitment to deepen the All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership at the Fourth Round of Pakistan-China Bilateral Political Consultations (BPC) and the Fifth Meeting of the CPEC Joint Working Group on International Cooperation and Coordination (JWG-ICC) held in Beijing.
He noted that the two countries were satisfied with the “positive trajectory” of their relations.
