Pakistani PM slams western pressure on Islamabad to condemn Russia
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Pakistan Prime Minister strongly condemns a joint letter issued by the heads of 22 foreign missions requesting Pakistan to back a UNGA resolution denouncing Russia's operation.
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Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan
Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan slammed foreign missions to Islamabad for attempting to pressure his country to support a UN General Assembly resolution denouncing Russia's special military operation in Ukraine.
On March 1, the heads of 22 foreign missions to Islamabad, including those of EU member nations, issued a joint letter requesting Pakistan to back the resolution, Reuters reported.
"What do you think of us? Are we your slaves ... that whatever you say, we will do?" Khan raged during a political event.
Pakistan had abstained from adopting the Russia-condemning resolution at the UNGA, so did its neighbor and its political rival, India.
"I want to ask the European Union ambassadors: Did you write such a letter to India?" Khan questioned the head of the foreign missions.
The Pakistani prime minister also pointed out that Europe has failed to condemn India's actions in Kashmir, a mountainous region with a Muslim majority that has been divided between India and Pakistan since its independence in 1947.
Islamabad suffered from assisting NATO in Afghanistan
Khan underscored that Islamabad has suffered from assisting the NATO alliance in Afghanistan, but received condemnation instead of thanks.
In the same context, a spokesperson for Pakistan's foreign ministry stated Friday at a press briefing that Islamabad has made clear that it was "not usual diplomatic practice" for foreign envoys to make such statements.
“We took note of that and in a subsequent meeting with a group of ambassadors, we expressed our concern about it, because as I said that is not the way diplomacy should be practiced, and I think they have realized it,” he added.
Khan: "We are not in any camp"
It is noteworthy that Khan and his administration were criticized for meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, hours after the latter announced the launch of the special operation in Ukraine.
However, Khan noted that Pakistan is "friends with Russia, and we are also friends with America; we are friends with China and with Europe; we are not in any camp," affirming that Pakistan would remain "neutral" and put effort to end the ongoing conflict.
Some European envoys who shared the joint statement on Twitter reportedly erased the tweets sometime after.
