- No Pakistan-China program for TTP engagement: FO spox.
- According to him, Lukashenko visited Pakistan at the invitation of Prime Minister Shehbaz.
- Several agreements and memorandums of understanding signed during Lukashenko’s visit: FO.
Islamabad, reiterating its “very clear” stance, has ruled out any negotiations with banned group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), stressing that Pakistan and China have no program of engagement with the terrorist group.
“First of all, there is no dialogue between the government of Pakistan and the TTP,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said at a weekly press briefing in Islamabad on Friday. .
“Pakistan’s position regarding dialogue with the TTP is very clear and has been reiterated several times. Secondly, Pakistan has repeatedly stated that proposals to start talks with the TTP, wherever they come from , are an affront to the families of thousands of victims of terrorism.”
“Thirdly, no such proposal is on the agenda between Pakistan and China with regard to engagement with the TTP,” she stressed.
In March this year, at least six people, including five Chinese nationals, were killed after a suicide bomber rammed a bus carrying staff working at the Dasu hydropower project in Besham, Shangla district.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Anti-Terrorism Department (CTD) found out the TTP behind the attack and arrested its four key terrorists.
This is the second attack in the past three years against Chinese engineers working in the region.
In July 2021, 13 people, including 9 Chinese nationals, two border police personnel and two local residents, were killed when their coach was bombed in the Dasu area of Kohistan.
Responding to another question regarding a meeting between Pakistan’s charge d’affaires in Afghanistan and Afghan Defense Minister Mullah Yaqoob in Afghanistan, the FO spokesperson said Pakistani diplomats remained in constant touch with Afghan officials.
“It is the responsibility of our diplomats based in Afghanistan to engage with officials and leaders of the Afghan interim government and the meeting of our head of mission in Kabul with the Afghan Minister of Defense took place in this context,” she pointed out.
The two sides discussed issues of mutual interest, she said, noting, however, “I don’t think we should share details with the media about the discussions that took place at this meeting.”
Speaking about the visit of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, she stressed that the trip, carried out at the invitation of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, resulted in several comprehensive agreements.
The two leaders signed several agreements and memorandums of understanding focused on cooperation in the areas of environmental protection, disaster management, halal trade, financial intelligence sharing, vocational education and science and technology, Baloch noted.
One of the main outcomes of the visit was the signing of the “Roadmap for Comprehensive Cooperation between Pakistan and Belarus for 2025-2027”, she added.