ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Wednesday highlighted the achievements of his ministry on the diplomatic front and global fora with increased outreach and extensive engagements with the international community.

Addressing a press conference here, he said Pakistan engaged with the United States, Europe and the United Kingdom through bilateral and multilateral meetings. “What gives me satisfaction, however, is that the positive trajectory in our relations with both the US and China have been pursued with clarity, underpinned by our consistent position that we do not want to be dragged into a global competition,” he said.

Also, the foreign minister said Pakistan maintained its principled position on the Ukraine conflict. “Despite all doubts and apprehensions in media, our voting pattern on related resolutions in multilateral fora remained unchanged. We invested significant effort in engaging both sides of the divide, and today, I believe there is a greater understanding of Pakistan’s position,” he added.

It was clearly evidenced by closer engagement with the US and EU, burgeoning energy cooperation with Russia, and visits to Pakistan by the foreign ministers of Belarus and Ukraine, he added.

“This broad, deep and meaningful engagement with all countries also helped build trust with the countries that sit on the IMF board. It’s coming to fruition last month was a gratifying moment,” the foreign minister said.

Removal from the FATF’s grey list, hosting of the Geneva conference and revival of the International Monetary Fund’s programme were some of the conspicuous achievements of Pakistan, he added.

Visa facilitation, and cooperation in science and technology resulted in the opening of doors for Pakistanis seeking jobs abroad, he said, adding they had corrected the diplomatic course.

The foreign minister said that during his tenure in office, they never compromised on the core issue of Kashmir and effectively advocated for the oppressed people of Kashmir at all fora. The Kashmir issue had been a consistent component of the foreign policy, he said and enumerated Pakistan’s efforts to address the issues of Islamophobia and desecration of the Holy Quran, leading to the adoption of a resolution by the UN Human Rights Council.

He reiterated that Pakistan’s stance over its relations with India was very clear and consistent: unless it revoked its illegal and unilateral acts of 2019 over the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), there was no space to meaningful engagement.

He said that India had not only violated the international laws and the United Nations Security Council resolutions, but also the bilateral agreements between the two countries. “There is no space left for Pakistan to meaningfully engage with India,” the foreign minister said.

About sending Pakistan national team to contest the ICC Cricket World Cup in India, he said contrary to India’s indulgence in immature acts, Pakistan always maintained that there should be a difference between politics and sports, adding that they still had security concerns as the security of the national team could not be compromised and they had conveyed such to the International Cricket Council (ICC) and India.

The foreign minister, responding to a question about Afghanistan, said that certain opinions were being formed across the world on the basis of ground realities. If they wanted diplomatic recognition, the Afghan interim government would have to address the international concerns, but if they continued with their statements, it would create complications and the Afghan people would continue to suffer, he added. FM Bilawal said that after the fall of Kabul, there was a sharp spike in terrorist incidents in Pakistan and stressed that cooperation and engagement between the two countries was necessary to tackle the issue.

The foreign minister also expressed strong opposition to the previous government’s policy over terrorists hiding in Afghanistan. He expressed the satisfaction that at the diplomatic front, they moved ahead with “damage control” during the last 16 months. He regretted that the PTI’s government had caused damage to the country’s relations with world capitals and strongly disagreed with the gesture of former prime minister waving a letter sent by an envoy in public.