ISLAMABAD, July 19 (APP): Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday assuring all out eff0rts of the country to investigate the July 16 incident regarding the daughter of Afghan Ambassador, urged the Afghan government to reconsider its decision of recalling their Ambassador and senior diplomats from Pakistan.
“As the presence of Afghan Ambassador in Pakistan is very important for further strengthening and broadening bilateral relations, this absence will not be in the interest of two countries,” Qureshi said while addressing a press conference along with National Security Advisor Moeed Yusuf and Inspector General of Police (IGP) Islamabad here at the Foreign Office.
The Foreign Minister shared some details of investigations made so far into the July 16 unfortunate incident and said that the Afghan side has been requested for their cooperation to reach a conclusion.
Qureshi also shared with media the details of his today’s telephonic conversation with Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar during which he apprised him of the measures taken by Pakistan after the incident and the progress made in the investigations so far.
The Foreign Minister said he told his Afghan counterpart that Prime Minister Imran Khan had personally taken notice of the incident and was overseeing the investigation process.
“We desire to reveal the facts before them as well as before the world and bring the culprits to justice. We will not keep anything secret,” he maintained.
The Foreign Secretary also assured the Afghan Ambassador of all out cooperation, he added.
Foreign Minister Qureshi said that after the incident the security of Afghan Embassy in Islamabad as well as consulates in Peshawar, Quetta and Karachi had been further beefed up.
He said that the government required some details from the Afghan side, a note verbale had also been given to them for the purpose.
The Foreign Minister also mentioned the meeting between Prime Minister Imran Khan and Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad today and said Pakistan wanted continuity of relations with Afghanistan.
Qureshi said Afghan Foreign Minister during the telephonic conversation said that Afghanistan wanted to jointly work with Pakistan on the incident.
IG Police Islamabad while giving the details of investigations so far said that with scrutiny of over 300 CCTV safe city and private cameras, over 200 people have been interviewed and included the investigation.
He said the daughter of Afghan Ambassador, who left the house on foot [without any vehicle] hired four taxis each for Khadda Market, Saddar, Daman-e-Koh and F-9 Park, respectively, before making a telephone call from F-9 Park to an Embassy staffer, who then drove her home.
The police has seen all the record of cameras and traced the whole route of the daughter of the Ambassador, he said, adding, however, the police required some more information from the complainant to reach a conclusion.
Advisor to PM on National Security Moeed Yusuf referred to some information shared with media regarding the EU DisInfo Lab and efforts were being made to defame Pakistan through some hash-tags and fake accounts on social media.
He said that negative propaganda was being spread against through fake accounts, adding, the accounts being used to highlight this incident on social media were the same, used earlier from India, Afghanistan and some from Pakistan for negative propaganda against the country.
Moeed Yusuf said that they were monitoring all those accounts, which were engaged in creating a negative impression about the security situation in Pakistan,
Foreign Minister Qureshi said that Pakistan had requested cooperation from the Afghan government and was expecting positive response to take the case of this incident to the conclusion.
He said Pakistan was ready to share all the information with Afghan government,
The Foreign Minister said Pakistan was continuously striving for peace and stability in Afghanistan. However, there were some anti-peace forces who wanted to vitiate the environment, he added.
Qureshi said their recent effort to invited some important personalities from Afghanistan and host a peace conference in Islamabad was part of Pakistan’s efforts for peace and stability in the brotherly country.