Pakistan foreign ministry spokesperson interview: ‘We hope that India will try to take steps to bring a situation to create a condition for peace and dialogue in the region’

Edited excerpts:

Q: What are Pakistan’s priorities?

Baloch: Pakistan is currently the chair of the heads of government of SCO, and SCO has a charter according to which the heads of government focus on economic, trade, cultural connectivity, and climate change matters, and this would be the agenda of tomorrow’s conference for which our national coordinators have been meeting and trying to find consensus over a declaration which will be adopted tomorrow.

And that would be a reflection of the consensus of this organisation on how we move forward in the future in the economic domain, an important aspect that we will be seeing in this declaration, would be how countries of this region should respond to the international challenges of climate change, the international challenges of disruption of supply chains, and, of course, the challenges to the multilateral trading order, because that is under threat, and that is impacting developing countries the most. We hope that tomorrow, after tomorrow’s declaration, we will have a clear vision of how this organisation will move forward in economic development.

Q: How do you view External Affairs Minister Jaishankar’s participation in SCO?

Baloch: He is a guest of Pakistan. Pakistan has welcomed all leaders who have decided to come to attend this conference. Pakistan will demonstrate its traditional hospitality to all guests, including the Minister for External Affairs of India.

Q: Do you see a window of opportunity for a bilateral conversation on the sidelines?

Baloch: There are no such plans.

Q: How do you see the China and Pakistan relationship that has blossomed in the last decade or so?

Baloch: Pakistan-China relations are not recent. We developed this relationship in the 1940s and 50s, and the reality is that this relationship has gone from strength to strength. It enjoys national consensus in Pakistan, and it enjoys consensus across different generations in Pakistan. We see China as a friend that has stood by Pakistan in difficult situations, and that is why this is a relationship that has continued to boost moving forward.

Q: How do you see India-Pakistan ties because it has been a tough phase for the relationship, especially in the last 10 years? And in the last five years, there’s been absolutely no movement in the relationship?

Baloch: Pakistan has said on multiple occasions that there is a need to develop an environment of peace and dialogue. Since the steps that India took in Kashmir in 2019, we see that the environment in the region has really been affected, and that is something which has created a conflict, a crisis of confidence between Pakistan and India. We hope that India will try to take steps to bring a situation, to create a condition for peace and dialogue in the region.

Q: India always maintains, put the ball in Pakistan’s court, that the onus is on Pakistan to create a terror-free environment. How do you respond to that?

Baloch: The reality is, these are old talking points. Perhaps they should retire these talking points. The fact is that Pakistan is a victim of terrorism, and that is a reality. Anybody who knows Pakistan knows that Pakistan is a victim of terrorism. We have also seen in recent years, a very dangerous development that India has been found to be behind extraterritorial and extrajudicial killings inside Pakistan, and that is something we believe that has created serious issues in this region. Terrorism, of course, is a great threat to this region, and it is important that all countries play an important role in fighting this menace.

Q: In recent weeks or months, Bangladesh under the new interim government led by chief advisor Prof Muhammad Yunus has proposed that SAARC should be revived. Is there a move to revive SAARC?

Baloch: Pakistan has always said that it is committed to SAARC. This region, the South Asia region, has so many challenges, common challenges, for which SAARC is the best forum where we can find common solutions. Pakistan is committed to SAARC, and we hope all countries focus on reviving all aspects of SAARC.