FO says Naqvi's visit to Iran aimed at discussing bilateral relations, regional peace and stability

The Foreign Office (FO) said on Wednesday that Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s visit to Iran was aimed at discussing bilateral relations, security-related matters and regional developments, particularly peace and stability in the region. Addressing a weekly press briefing, FO spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said Naqvi — who arrived in Tehran on Tuesday — was holding meetings with senior Iranian officials. He added that the visit provides the two countries the opportunity to discuss “bilateral relations, security-related matters, and regional development, with a particular focus on efforts to promote peace, stability, and constructive engagement amongst the parties in the region and regional developments”. Naqvi was received in Tehran by his Iranian counterpart, Eskandar Momeni, and later held talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Iranian media reported. A diplomatic source had told Dawn from Tehran that the principal objective of Naqvi’s visit was to follow up on the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding and Pakistan’s mediation bet­­w­een Iran and the US. Speaking further on Pakistan’s mediation efforts between the US and Iran, Andrabi reiterated that Pakistan remained engaged alongside “brotherly states” in “sincere efforts” to work towards a resolution to the crisis. “Pakistan is making all-out efforts to bring the two parties to the negotiating table and the Islamabad MoU and pave the way for peace and stability in the region,” he said. He also warned that Pakistan would continue to “offset spoilers using direct and indirect channels” and ensure the continuation of constructive dialogue to resolve outstanding issues. Makkah pact reflects ‘resolve for sharing burden of regional peace’ The FO spokesperson also spoke of the defence pact signed last week between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, which he said was “highlight of the week”. The joint defence agreement, signed in Makkah on Friday, aims to strengthen collective deterrence and empowers its signatory states to treat an attack against one of them as an attack against all of them. He said the agreement reflected the three nations’ “commitment to further strengthen their collective security, promoting peace security and promoting peace security and stability in the region and beyond”. He said the agreement reflected the “long-standing brotherly relations” among the three countries and “displays our resolve for sharing the burden of regional peace and security”. “The agreement is purely defensive in nature and allows unified efforts to confront threats and security challenges to the member states,” Andrabi added, recalling Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar’s statement congratulating the nation on the agreement on August 10, wherein he held the agreement was defensive in nature and not against any country. FO rejects Indian MEA’s ‘baseless’ remarks on AJK When asked about the Indian Ministry of External Affairs’ recent remarks regarding alleged human rights abuses in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), the FO spokesperson rejected the “baseless” statement. The region has been gripped by unrest since early June as elections are also being held. “India’s professed concerns for human rights in AJK are disingenuous given its own well-documented record for repression in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, including excessive use of force, arbitrary detention, suppression of political freedom and sweeping powers under the draconian laws enacted there.” He added that India’s “politicisation” of developments in AJK was “misleading and cannot divert attention from the stark realities in Indian illegally occupied Kashmir”. “Pakistan remains fully committed to the protection of fundamental rights and the democratic freedom of AJK,” he said. He added that rather than making such statements over AJK, India would be “well advised to honour commitments made by its founding fathers and uphold the right of the people of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir to freely determine their future through a United Nations plebiscite in accordance with relevant UN Security Council resolutions”.