Pakistan cricket team's security is responsibility of host country: FO spokesperson

ISLAMABAD (APP) - Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch has said that it is responsibility of the host country to provide security and a conducive environment for the Pakistan cricket team, emphasizing that sports should not be mixed with politics.

Addressing the weekly press briefing on Thursday, she said that the Pakistan team was visiting India not for a bilateral cricket series, and thus had every right to participate in the international series. "Pakistan is in contact with the India for issuance of visas to Pakistani spectators and journalists who wished to see the ICC (International Cricket Council) World Cup in India," she demanded.

Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said its recent decision to deport illegal residents was not targeted at Afghan refugees but was against all foreigners without having valid visa documents. "The national policy towards the Afghan refugees in the country 'remained unchanged' and their safe repatriation is a separate issue."

The spokesperson said the ongoing operation was against the individuals who had either overstayed their visas or did not have the valid documents to stay. Baloch clarified that the operation had nothing to do with the Afghan refugees that Pakistan had been hosting for several decades despite its economic constraints. She confirmed that the bilateral trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan continued to take place; however, stressed that Pakistan would not accept the misuse of transit trade facilities.

To another question, the spokesperson said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had received the formal communication from the Election Commission to invite international observers for the upcoming general election. She said the process would be facilitated in accordance with the policy and past practice.

About Palestine, she said Pakistan’s policy was clear that it supported a two-state solution on the basis of pre-1967 borders.

She said the Indian forces continued to commit serious human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). "In September, the Indian troops martyred 13 Kashmiris in extra-judicial killings and arrested 157 civilians and activists. Those arrested were mostly booked under the draconian laws promulgated by the occupation authorities in IIOJK — Public Safety Act (PSA) and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Such oppressive measures and human rights violations must end and the Kashmiri leaders be set free so that the Kashmiri people can freely exercise their right to self-determination,” she said.