Former ambassador Abdul Basit Thursday said that Pakistan was right in giving India consular access to its spy Kulbhushan Jadhav.
The access was given under the 2008 Agreement on Consular Access signed by the two countries, he said, adding it, however, was discretion of the country where the arrest was made to give consular access to the other country to its citizens held whether on on political or security grounds.
He was speaking at a one-day media workshop on “foreign policy and diplomacy”, organized here by the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI).
Ambassador Basit said in the fast globalizing world, media was playing an important role in advancing foreign policy objectives. It was important that journalists dealing with foreign and strategic policy issues must understand and have clarity about facts, he added.
Sharing the workshop objectives, he said it was first time that a workshop had been initiated for media persons working on defence and foreign policy issues.
He said implementation part of every policy, including foreign policy, was very important. Though the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) was facing financial and human resource constraints, yet with the help of a robust media, it could highlight a true and dynamic image of Pakistan, he added.
Ex-ambassador Tajammul Altaf, in his presentation, highlighted the historical background of the MoFA, its organisational structure and functioning. The ministry, he said, was the first line of the country’s defence and played a pivotal role in the the implementation of the foreign policy and diplomatic relations by safeguarding national interests.
During the workshop, participants were informed about the country’s broad foreign policy objectives; organisation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA); diplomatic and consular missions abroad; Vienna diplomatic and consular conventions; as well as relevant nuclear and defence-related nomenclature and agreements.
