Islamabad, June 2: A high-level Pakistani delegation, comprising three former foreign ministers, is travelling to the US as part of Islamabad’s global diplomatic push to seek support following its recent conflict with India.
The Pakistani team will be in the US around the same time an Indian parliamentary delegation led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor is visiting the US to highlight India’s policy of zero-tolerance to terrorism and expose Pakistan’s support to terrorist groups.
On Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s directive, a high-level multi-party delegation will visit New York, Washington DC, London and Brussels from June 2,” the Foreign Office (FO) said on Monday.
The nine-member delegation is led by the Pakistan People’s Party Chairman and former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
The move comes after India sent seven multi-party delegations to 33 global capitals as part of its diplomatic outreach following the terrorist attack in Pahalgam that claimed 26 lives.
The others members of the Pakistani delegation to the US include federal minister Musadik Malik, former foreign ministers Hina Rabbani Khar and Khurram Dastgir Khan, former ministers Syed Faisal Ali Subzwari and Sherry Rehman, Senator Bushra Anjum Butt. It also includes two ex-foreign secretaries – Jalil Abbas Jilani and Tehmina Janjua.
The delegation will meet the UN Secretary-General, the president of the UN General Assembly, the ambassadors of the 14 countries of the 15-member UN Security Council, including the Chinese and Russian UN envoys, Geo News reported.
Another delegation, led by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister, Syed Tariq Fatemi, will visit Moscow from June 2. The details of its composition were not shared.
The two delegations would engage in a series of meetings with the leadership of international bodies, public office holders, senior officials, parliamentarians, think tanks, media and diaspora, the FO said.
“The visits of these delegations are aimed at projecting Pakistan’s perspective on the recent Indian aggression,” it said, adding that they would also “highlight that dialogue and diplomacy should take precedence over conflict and confrontation”.
The need for immediate resumption of the normal functioning of the Indus Waters Treaty will also be a key theme of the delegations’ outreach, according to FO.
Pakistan announced last month to send a team of experts to foreign capitals to inform the world about the four-day conflict with India and also highlight its point of view regarding the conflict.
Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after the Pahalgam terror attack, with India carrying out precision strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in the early hours of May 7.
Pakistan attempted to attack Indian military bases on May 8, 9, and 10. The Indian side responded strongly to the Pakistani actions. The on-ground hostilities ended with an understanding of stopping the military actions following talks between the directors general of military operations of both sides on May 10. (PTI)
