ISLAMABAD – Pakistan on Monday dismissed as gratuitous and completelyunwarranted a reference to the country in a joint statement issued at theconclusion of Indian and Japanese foreign and defence ministerial meetingheld in New Delhi on November 30.
“We categorically reject the reference to Pakistan in the Japan-India JointStatement issued in New Delhi on Nov 30, 2019. This reference is gratuitousand completely unwarranted,” a Foreign Office press statement said.
“Our serious concerns and rejection of the unacceptable reference toPakistan in the Japan-India Joint Statement have been conveyed to theJapanese side through diplomatic channels,” the statement said.
The Foreign Office said it was important that partner countries take anobjective and balanced view of the issues of peace and security in SouthAsia and refrain from endorsing positions that are one-sided and divorcedfrom ground realities.
India’s “animus” towards Pakistan and its “smear campaign” in the contextof alleged cross-border terrorism were well-known to the world, it added.
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Among other things, the FO statement said, those were part of along-standing design to divert the world’s attention from India’s illegalactions, and gross and systematic violations of human rights in the IndianOccupied Jammu and Kashmir.
It said India’s relentless attempts to politicize the Financial Action TaskForce (FATF) proceedings were also in the knowledge of the internationalcommunity, including the broader FATF membership. “We will continue tofirmly counter the Indian smear and propaganda.”
