ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch has said that Pakistan strongly condemns the decision of the Indian authorities to ban the Jammu and Kashmir Muslim League headed by illegally detained Masarrat Alam Butt.
Mumtaz Zahra Baloch at a weekly press briefing in Islamabad said Indian forces in occupied Jammu and Kashmir continued to put curbs on the residents and the Kashmiri leaders.
“Putting restrictions on Kashmiri leaders is India’s disrespect for international norms,” she said, adding that India must lift the ban and release the incarcerated political prisoners.
Asked if the coming year held any prospects of resumption of ties with India, the spokesperson said India needed to take steps to create an environment for a dialogue.
She, however, categorically pointed out that the dialogue with India could only take place based on “equality, respect and with discussion on Jammu and Kashmir as the priority issue”.
The FO spokesperson dismissed the report about India demanding Pakistan to hand over the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hafiz Saeed in connection with the Pulwama incident. “This is based on speculative reporting,” she said when asked if India had sent an official request to Pakistan to extradite Hafiz Saeed.
