ISLAMABAD: The prime minister should not have “hit out publicly” at Islamabad-based Western ambassadors who had urged Pakistan to condemn Russia’s actions in Ukraine, Minister for Finance Shaukat Tarin Wednesday said.
The heads of 22 diplomatic missions, including those of European Union member states, released a joint letter on March 1 urging Pakistan to support a resolution in the United Nations General Assembly condemning the violence in Ukraine.
The move to release the letter publicly was rare.
“What do you think of us? Are we your slaves […] that whatever you say, we will do?” Imran Khan said while addressing a rally in Mailsi.
In the event, Pakistan, a traditional ally of the West, abstained from voting as the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly reprimanded Russia for invading Ukraine.
“I want to ask the European Union ambassadors: Did you write such a letter to India?” Khan said, noting that Pakistan’s arch-rival had also abstained.
Objecting to that press release, the Foreign Office had said: “We took note of that and in a subsequent meeting with a group of ambassadors […] we expressed our concern about that because it was not the way diplomacy should be practised”.
But, during a press conference in Islamabad, Tarin — who defended the prime minister who “just shared his sentiments on” the matter — said Khan “just reacted publicly, which may be, he should not have done”.
Responding to a question by a reporter who asked if the comments could have a negative impact on Pakistan’s trade with the bloc, he said: “I don’t think we should worry about what they [Europe] will do.”
The minister also observed the EU had remained silent on India’s violations of UN resolutions and international law in occupied Kashmir and that “Pakistan had just abstained from [UNGA] voting [on Ukraine crisis].”
Tarin also said the European nation “should not tell Pakistan what to do” and that it was the prerogative of Khan to protect Pakistan and its prestige.
Pakistan had an independent foreign policy that stipulated that no nation should violate the other’s sovereignty and that disputes be settled peacefully, he added.
The prime minister and his government found themselves in the spotlight after he went ahead with a visit to Moscow in late February as fears of an invasion were growing, and met Vladimir Putin a few hours after the Russian president had ordered his troops into Ukraine.
“We are friends with Russia, and we are also friends with America; we are friends with China and with Europe; we are not in any camp,” Khan added, saying Pakistan would remain “neutral” and work with those trying to end the war in Ukraine.
