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ISLAMABAD:&nbsp;Pakistan marked 19 years since the Samjhauta Express bombing, saying justice remains elusive for the 68 people killed in the 2007 attack, including 44 Pakistanis, according to the Foreign Office on Thursday. At a weekly briefing, Foreign Office Spokesperson Tahir Andrabi expressed &ldquo;severe disappointment&rdquo; over India&rsquo;s &ldquo;callousness&rdquo; toward victims&rsquo; families. He said they continue to wait for justice nearly two decades later. He condemned the acquittal of four individuals, including Swami Aseemanand, whom he said publicly confessed to masterminding the attack, Lieutenant Colonel Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur. The spokesperson said the exoneration confirmed India&rsquo;s role as an &ldquo;official and political accomplice&rdquo; in the attack carried out on its soil. Pakistan demands a fair trial for the perpetrators and abettors, he said. He termed the exoneration an example of &ldquo;Indian duplicity and state sponsorship of terrorism against Pakistan.&rdquo; He added that &ldquo;Hindutva extremism and saffron terror&rdquo; behind the attack had intensified under India&rsquo;s current government. <h3 style="line-height: 2;">Afghanistan strikes Andrabi confirmed intelligence-based, selective strikes on seven militant camps and hideouts along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The action followed recent terrorist attacks in Bajaur and Bannu, he said.</h3> The spokesperson stated the strikes were proportional and carefully planned. They targeted identified militant sites with &ldquo;utmost caution&rdquo; to prevent civilian harm. He described reported remarks from Afghan authorities about Pakistan&rsquo;s law-and-order situation as &ldquo;discouraging and disappointing.&rdquo; Attacks have increased over the past 12 to 18 months since the Taliban takeover, he said, as that militants operating from Afghanistan conduct attacks against Pakistan. Pakistan will respond &ldquo;swiftly, strongly&rdquo; in exercise of its right to self-defense, he said. Security forces remain vigilant as there is currently no structured dialogue with Kabul, and no decision has been taken on contributing troops to an ISF force discussed in Washington. <h3 style="line-height: 2;">Kashmir Andrabi condemned the extrajudicial killing of three Kashmiri youths in the Kishtwar district of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). He called it another manifestation of &ldquo;state-sponsored terrorism.&rdquo;</h3> He referred to the Kunan Poshpora incident as a grave human rights violation and said perpetrators remain unaccounted for. He stated that Pakistan will continue urging the international community and `UN human rights bodies to hold India accountable and seek a peaceful resolution in line with UN Security Council resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people. He also said Pakistan expects &ldquo;foolproof, complete security&rdquo; for its diplomats and nationals in Afghanistan, adding that Islamabad extends the same seriousness to Afghan diplomats in Pakistan. <h3 style="line-height: 2;">Israel occupation in West Bank Andrabi stated that Pakistan will outline its stance on Israel&rsquo;s recent move to annex parts of the occupied West Bank at an upcoming ministerial meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).&nbsp;</h3>&nbsp;He said that Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will represent Pakistan at the OIC&#39;s Open-Ended Extraordinary Ministerial Session, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Feb. 26-28.&nbsp; The meeting &ldquo;has been convened to consider the illegal decision by the Israeli occupation authorities aimed at expanding settlements, pursuing annexation, and attempting to impose Israel&#39;s sovereignty over the occupied West Bank,&rdquo; the spokesperson said. Dar will present Pakistan&rsquo;s case during the session. <div class="fr-embed" style="line-height: 2;"><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fphoto.php%3Ffbid%3D1374272581405477%26set%3Da.251429287023151%26type%3D3&show_text=true&width=500" width="500" height="748" style="border:none;overflow:hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div> In a Facebook post, the Foreign Office said Dar will &ldquo;hold sideline meetings with counterparts from OIC&rdquo; member states. Andrabi said Israel&rsquo;s measures in the occupied West Bank have drawn condemnation from the OIC and other Muslim states, as well as &ldquo;European and other world countries,&rdquo; including Brazil, France, Denmark, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. &ldquo;In this statement, we described these changes as wide-ranging and amounting to reclassifying Palestinian land as so-called Israel state land, accelerating illegal settlement activity, and further entrenching Israeli administration,&rdquo; he said. Restating Pakistan&rsquo;s long-standing position on Israel&rsquo;s occupation of Palestinian lands, Andrabi said the country issued &ldquo;a joint statement&rdquo; with &ldquo;eight other countries&rdquo; condemning a statement by the US ambassador to Israel suggesting it would be acceptable for Israel to exercise control over territories belonging to Arab states. He said Egypt, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine, along with the OIC Secretariat and the League of Arab States, &ldquo;strongly condemned&rdquo; the remarks. The US envoy&rsquo;s comment was &ldquo;dangerous, inflammatory, and clear violation of international law and the UN Charter,&rdquo; Andrabi said. He added that it threatened regional security and stability. Qatar Separately, Andrabi addressed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif&rsquo;s recent state visit to Qatar at the invitation of the emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. PM Sharif met the Qatari emir and discussed enhancing cooperation in several areas, including economic ties. Both sides agreed on resolving international disputes peacefully through &ldquo;dialogue&rdquo; and &ldquo;diplomacy.&rdquo; Sheikh Tamim will &ldquo;visit Pakistan later this year,&rdquo; he added. During the visit, PM Sharif also met Qatar&rsquo;s defense minister, Sheikh Saud Al Thani, who expressed interest in expanding defense cooperation between the two countries and &ldquo;appreciated the professionalism and expertise of Pakistan&#39;s armed forces.&rdquo;

Foreign Office Spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi speaking at a weekly press briefing in Islamabad, on February 26, 2026. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs/X)

Foreign Affairs

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will represent Pakistan at the Open-Ended Extraordinary Ministerial Session of the OIC.

Pakistan demands justice on Samjhauta Express bombing’s 19th anniversary

ISLAMABAD: Iran and Pakistan are currently in one of their &quot;most constructive phases&quot; in decades, Iran&rsquo;s Ambassador to Pakistan Reza Amiri-Moghaddam said Tuesday during a talk at an Islamabad think tank, according to a press release. The Centre for Afghanistan, Middle East, and Africa (CAMEA) at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad hosted a public event titled &ldquo;Pakistan-Iran Relations: An Enduring Partnership in a Changing Region.&rdquo; &nbsp; Amiri-Moghaddam said the two neighbors share a long border and together represent nearly 350 million people. He noted that strong people-to-people ties, a strategic location, and complementary economic structures create opportunities for cooperation. The ambassador described the two countries as brotherly nations bound by culture, history, and religion. He said ties predate Pakistan&rsquo;s creation, with Iran being the first country to recognize the new state and supporting Pakistan during the 1965 and 1971 wars. The Iranian ambassador said that more than 25 high-level delegations have been exchanged with Pakistan over the past two years, with 25 agreements and memoranda of understanding signed across sectors, reflecting an upward trajectory in bilateral relations. Two Iranian presidential visits took place during this period, along with visits by Iran&rsquo;s Speaker of Parliament, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, the foreign minister, and other senior officials. Collaboration extends through regional engagement and mutual diplomatic support. Both countries are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Economic Cooperation Organization, and the Developing Eight Organization for Economic Cooperation, he said. He noted that Pakistan and Iran together form a market potential of nearly two billion, which could expand further with the inclusion of Turkiye. He said ties rest on a foundation of shared history, culture, and strategic interests. He said Pakistan and Iran align on issues such as Palestine, while terrorism and separatist movements require closer coordination. He acknowledged that difficult periods strained relations, but said the countries are now closer than ever despite challenges such as terrorism and sectarianism. He added that amid regional hostilities, Pakistan and Iran remain committed to pursuing peaceful solutions. Pak-Iran ties grounded in shared security Meanwhile, CAMEA Director Dr Amina Khan said the bilateral relationship between Iran and Pakistan was grounded in historical ties, geographic proximity, and shared security and economic interests. She said that relations have remained positive in recent years, marked by high-level engagement, close coordination on regional developments, and adherence to the principle of sovereign equality. She noted that both countries are aligned on issues including Afghanistan, the Gaza crisis, and broader regional stability. The director also mentioned that Pakistan condemned Israel&rsquo;s 12-day military strikes on Iran last year as &ldquo;reckless&rdquo; provocations and a &ldquo;grave violation of Iran&rsquo;s sovereignty and territorial integrity,&rdquo; international law, and the UN Charter. An engaging question-and-answer session was held at the end of the event, which was attended by diplomats, academics, students, practitioners, and members of civil society, according to the press release.

Iranian Ambassador Reza Amiri-Moghaddam speaks at an Islamabad public talk on Pakistan-Iran relations, highlighting 25 agreements and high-level delegations over the past two years. (Institute of Strategic Studies/Facebook)

Iran and Pakistan mark a constructive phase in relations, with 25 delegations and agreements exchanged, shared regional and economic interests, and alignment on issues like Afghanistan and Gaza, according to officials.

Articles tagged with "Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)"

Pakistan demands justice on Samjhauta Express bombing’s 19th anniversary

Pakistan ties at 'most constructive phase': Iran ambassador