India's objections to Pakistan's new map played down in SCO meeting: Mooed Yusuf

[MenInG]

Advisor to the Prime Minister on National Security Mooed Yusuf said Tuesday that India had raised its concerns in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's (SCO) national security advisors' meeting on Pakistan's new political map and demanded that it not be displayed during his speech.

Speaking to Geo News, Yusuf said that Pakistan had responded in writing to India's objections, making it clear that the map was the country's right and that it was according to the United Nations' laws on Kashmir.

Yusuf said that Russia 'backed' Pakistan's stance and none of the countries participating in the conference objected to it.

Read more: 'Cooperation, not confrontation should drive international politics'

Yusuf was representing Pakistan in the conference, a week after Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had represented Pakistan in the organisation's foreign ministers' meeting.

"My Indian counterpart [Ajit Doval] had boycotted Pakistan's speech during the meeting," he siad, adding that Doval also attended the Russian advisor's speech for nearly 5 minutes.

Keeping in mind the United Nations' principles, we presented our point of view and raised the issue of Kashmir, he said.

"We stressed that Pakistan wishes to give a corridor to the world and believes in connectivity," said Yusuf.

The PM's advisor, earlier in a series of tweets, said that he was honoured to represent Pakistan at the SCO NSAs dialogue

"I highlighted Pakistan’s continued commitment to peace in the region. Pakistan is committed to working with SCO member states to achieve peace and stability, economic security, and connectivity," he said.

Yusuf highlighted that unilateral and illegal actions in an internationally recognised disputed territory of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir were a threat to regional peace and prosperity.

"I also apprised counterparts of Pakistan's deep commitment to peace in Afghanistan through an Afghan-led and owned peace process," he said.

Speaking on Afghanistan's peace process, he said that a peaceful and stable Kabul was important for peace, stability, and connectivity in the region and beyond.

“Pakistan has long held that there is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan and that a negotiated political settlement is the only way forward,” he said.

Afghan stakeholders should seize this historic opportunity and work together to secure an inclusive, broad-based, and comprehensive political settlement, he said.

Yusuf assured that Pakistan would continue to play the role of a facilitator in the peace process and that the Afghan alone have the authority to decide on the future of their country.

“No outside actor should be seen as the guarantor of peace in that country. The process must be Afghan-owned and Afghan-led,” he stressed.

Dr Yusuf highlighted that Pakistan contributed the "most" towards peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan.

https://www.geo.tv/latest/308055-in...tans-new-map-played-down-in-sco-meeting-yusuf

 

[MenInG]

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval Tuesday left the meeting of NSAs of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) members after Pakistan “deliberately projected a fictitious map” of the country in “blatant disregard to the advisory by the host” Russia.

In response to a query at a media briefing, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said NSA Ajit Doval walked out of the virtual meeting after Pakistan’s representative Dr Moeed Yusuf projected in the background the new political map of the country that depicts Jammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory, and claims the regions of Sir Creek and the erstwhile state of Junagadh in Gujarat as part of its territory.

“At the meeting of the National Security Advisers (NSAs) of member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), hosted by the Chair of the SCO (Russia), the Pakistani NSA deliberately projected a fictitious map that Pakistan has recently been propagating,” Srivastava said.

He added that the showcasing of the map was in “blatant disregard to the advisory by the host (Russia) against it and in violation of the norms of the meeting.” After consulting the Russian NSA, Doval left the meeting in protest at that juncture.

“As was to be expected, Pakistan then went on to present a misleading view of this meeting,” the MEA said. Pakistan’s ruling party PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf) has claimed that the SCO agreed to its position with respect to the new political map of the country and overruled objections by Doval before he left the meeting in protest.

The new political map of Pakistan was unveiled by Prime Minister Imran Khan on the eve of the first anniversary of the withdrawal of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370.

The map depicts the entirety of Jammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory while also incorporating Siachen as part of Pakistan. It does not show any borders in the east of Kashmir, where China has illegally occupied Aksai Chin. It also incorporates Sir Creek into Pakistani territory as well as parts of the erstwhile princely state of Junagadh.

India has rejected the authenticity of the map and called it an “exercise in political absurdity”.

“This is an exercise in political absurdity, laying untenable claims to territories in the Indian State of Gujarat and our Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and of Ladakh. These ridiculous assertions have neither legal validity nor international credibility. In fact, this new effort only confirms the reality of Pakistan’s obsession with territorial aggrandisement supported by cross-border terrorism,” the MEA had then said in a statement.

https://indianexpress.com/article/i...protest-after-pakistan-shows-new-map-6597248/

 

[msaaim89]

Walked out of virtual meeting?