Mariam Ellahi

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday cautioned that Afghan territory must not be used for terrorist activities against Pakistan, while pointing to India&rsquo;s &ldquo;poor record&rdquo; in this regard. In his first press briefing, Foreign Office Spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi said Pakistan would not interfere if India and Afghanistan choose to establish diplomatic representation. &ldquo;India and Afghanistan are sovereign countries. If they decide to have diplomatic representation, we will not comment,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;However, Afghan soil must not be used for sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan, and India&rsquo;s record in this regard has not been good.&rdquo; Andrabi welcomed ceasefire talks held with the interim Afghan government in Doha on October 19, calling them &ldquo;a first step toward regional peace.&rdquo; He thanked Qatar and Turkey for their mediation and said discussions focused on halting cross-border attacks and restoring stability along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. He said Pakistan expected progress in the next round of talks in Istanbul, including a verifiable monitoring mechanism to prevent &ldquo;terrorism emanating from Afghan soil.&rdquo; Pakistan, he stated, &ldquo;does not seek escalation,&rdquo; but urged Afghan authorities to take &ldquo;verifiable action&rdquo; against groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and the Baloch Liberation Army. The spokesperson said the ceasefire remained intact, describing it as &ldquo;a marker of positive achievement.&rdquo; On temporary border trade suspensions, he said the step was driven by security concerns. &ldquo;We understand traders and people are affected, but the lives of Pakistanis are more paramount than any commodity traded,&rdquo; he said. Responding to concerns over Afghan dam construction on the Kabul and Kunar rivers, Andrabi said the issue would be addressed under international law to ensure Pakistan&rsquo;s water rights. On funding speculation, he stated, &ldquo;Six dams worth $3 billion is a lot of money, I&rsquo;m not sure if New Delhi is so gracious with its purse.&rdquo; He dismissed India&rsquo;s threats regarding Azad Jammu and Kashmir as &ldquo;hollow and not credible,&rdquo; saying Pakistan was fully prepared to defend its territory. He stated that the people of AJK were &ldquo;as patriotic and aligned with Pakistan as any other part of the country.&rdquo; Pakistan launches first hyperspectral satellite The spokesperson highlighted the launch of Pakistan&rsquo;s first hyperspectral satellite (HS-1), saying it will significantly improve monitoring of land use, water resources, vegetation, urban growth, disaster response and climate resilience. Pakistan condemns Israeli settlement expansion The spokesperson also condemned Israel&rsquo;s move to extend its claimed sovereignty over parts of the occupied West Bank, calling it a violation of international law and UN resolutions. He reiterated Pakistan&rsquo;s support for a sovereign Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital. He noted that the International Court of Justice has repeatedly stated that Israel must not obstruct humanitarian relief in occupied territories. Pakistan&ndash;Poland ties and outreach to Africa Andrabi said Pakistan and Poland were expanding cooperation in trade, energy, defense, education and labor. He stated that Polish investments in Pakistan&rsquo;s petrochemical sector alone had exceeded $5 billion. He also mentioned Pakistan&rsquo;s growing engagement with Africa, including the fifth Pak-Africa Trade Conference in Addis Ababa, where discussions focused on agriculture, healthcare, education, trade and investment.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs weekly press briefing on October 24, 2025. (MOFA)

Foreign Affairs

Foreign Office spokesperson says Afghan soil must not be used for terrorism against Pakistan, noting India’s “poor record.” It welcomes Doha ceasefire talks, seeks verifiable monitoring, and says Pakistan does not want escalation but expects Afghan action.

Pakistan warns Afghan soil must not fuel terrorism, questions India’s record

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan&rsquo;s representative at the United Nations, while rejecting India&rsquo;s accusations as baseless, highlighted India&rsquo;s state terrorism, said a statement issued by Pakistan&rsquo;s Permanent Mission to the UN on Wednesday. Pakistan&rsquo;s Counsellor Muhammad Jawad Ajmal, in response to the remarks of the Indian delegate on &ldquo;Measures to eliminate International Terrorism&rdquo; on Tuesday, said &ldquo;We heard remarks in the context of Pahalgam made earlier. As a responsible member of the international community, Pakistan, as an elected non-permanent member of the Security Council joined fellow Council members in unequivocally condemning this attack.&rdquo;<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1975729257402728662&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F&sessionId=15d2a163121d5c546e0e2877229a290777424d7f&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 771px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;"></iframe></div></div>Ajmal reminded that Pakistan also offered an independent and credible investigation. &ldquo;We are yet to see evidence of the perpetrators of this attack, details of which remain unknown,&rdquo; he added. &nbsp; &lsquo;A dangerous precedent&rsquo;&nbsp;The Pakistani representative further stated: &ldquo;Not only was Pakistan&rsquo;s offer rejected, but it was attacked, its sovereignty violated and 54 innocent Pakistani civilians martyred, 15 of them children, 13 women in a blatant act of aggression. This behavior sets a dangerous precedent.&rdquo; &ldquo;The global community cannot afford to ignore such errant and rogue behavior,&rdquo; Ajmal stressed. He said that the naked act of aggression and violation of Pakistan&rsquo;s sovereignty met a befitting, proportionate response under right of self-defense. Pakistan&rsquo;s response, Ajmal added resulted in &ldquo;resounding success in thwarting this threat, ending with a ceasefire brokered with the good offices of the United States at the request of New Delhi.&rdquo; &lsquo;Malicious accusations&rsquo;&nbsp;Speaking about Indian allegations, the Pakistani representative said: The malicious accusations of cross border terrorism are a deliberate attempt to repeat lies until they are accepted as the truth, which is far from ground realities. &ldquo;This country is not only a regional bully but net destabilizer in the entire region, holding South Asia hostage to its hegemonic designs and Hindutva ideology that inspires hate, divisions and xenophobia,&rdquo; he said. Talking about India&rsquo;s oppression of Kashmiris, Ajmal said that first, it is this country that illegally occupy territories, oppress indigenous populations and violate fundamental human rights as is the case in Indian Occupied Kashmir, the disputed status of which is recognized by the UN. &ldquo;To deny these realities is a violation of international law and a disrespect to a rules-based international order. I need not elaborate on scheme of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, detentions, staged encounters and collective punishment under the cover of counter terrorism laws that this country pursues,&rdquo; he highlighted. Terror financing&nbsp;Speaking about India, Ajmal further said that it is this country that sponsors terrorist organizations in its neighborhood, particularly Pakistan by sponsoring and financing terrorist entities. &ldquo;It is this country that runs a global campaign of extra territorial assassinations and clandestine proxies on our soil and beyond, including the US and Canada.&rdquo; &lsquo;Pakistan committed to peace&rsquo;&nbsp;He said it has become a routine script: whenever an incident occurs, Pakistan is reflexively blamed&mdash;without any shred of evidence, logic or investigation. The Pakistani representative stated that Islamabad remains committed to peace. &ldquo;We have consistently offered dialogue. The lives of 1.5 billion people of South Asia deserve prosperity and stability. But let it be clear: these goals cannot be achieved through threats and intimidation. True progress requires sincerity, mutual respect, and genuine diplomacy - principles Pakistan has upheld, and which this member state must finally choose to embrace if it truly seeks peace,&rdquo; he concluded.

Pakistan rebuts Indian claims at United Nations; highlights India’s state terrorism and role in regional destabilization; says it is committed to peace. 

Articles tagged with "Indian state terrorism"

Pakistan warns Afghan soil must not fuel terrorism, questions India’s record

Pakistan highlights Indian 'state terrorism' at UN