The high-powered delegation, led by former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, has reached Washington after concluding its two-day visit to the United Nations Headquarters in New York on Wednesday.
Pakistan had launched a broad-based engagement campaign in the United States to present its perspective on the recent spike in tensions with India, and counter New Delhi’s growing lobbying presence here.
The delegation comprises Senator Rehman, former foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Dr Musadik Malik, Engineer Khurram Dastgir, Faisal Subzwari, Tehmina Janjua, Senator Bushra Anjum Butt and Jalil Abbas Jilani.
In New York, the delegation “drew attention to India’s illegal use of force and violations of international law, including the UN Charter and International Humanitarian Law, particularly targeting of civilian areas and killing of innocent civilians, including women and children”, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Office.
It added that the delegation rejected India’s allegations regarding the April 22 attack in India-occupied Kashmir “without a shred of evidence, and warned against India’s weaponisation of water through its unilateral hold on the IWT [Indus Waters Treaty] in violation of international law and treaty obligations”.
According to the statement, the delegation met with the UN secretary-general, the president of the General Assembly, the president of the Security Council, the representatives of the Security Council’s permanent and non-permanent members, ambassadors of the OIC Group, representatives of the media, civil society, and think tanks, and the Pakistani community.
Furthermore, the delegation highlighted the country’s role and commitment to combating terrorism in all forms, while also “drawing attention of the international community towards Indian-sponsored terrorism in Pakistan, and its transnational assassination campaign”.
“Cooperation, not politicisation, was required to effectively combat the menace of terrorism, it was underlined,” the statement said.
The delegation also emphasised the country’s responsible and lawful response to Indian aggression and provocations, adding that Pakistan “seeks peace but will always defend its sovereignty with resolve”.
It warned that Indian attempts to create a “new normal” that implied arbitrary and unilateral strikes could lead to disastrous consequences in South Asia’s nuclear environment, reiterating that peace in the region hinged on a just and peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, in line with the UN Security Council resolutions and wishes of the Kashmiri people.
“The international community was urged to uphold international law and the sanctity of treaties, push for the revival and normal functioning of the Indus Waters Treaty, and support the initiation of a comprehensive dialogue to resolve all outstanding issues between India and Pakistan, including the core dispute of Jammu and Kashmir,” the statement read.
Speaking at a press conference at UN Headquarters, Bilawal said cooperation between Pakistan and India’s intelligence agencies could significantly reduce terrorism in South Asia.
“I am completely confident that if ISI and RAW were ready to sit down and work together to fight these forces, we would see a significant decrease in terrorism in both India and Pakistan,” he added.
He also urged the global community to remain engaged in South Asia, warning that the risk of conflict between nuclear-armed neighbours had grown, not diminished, after the recent ceasefire.
“With the intervention of the international community — and I would like to mention particularly the role played by the US President Donald Trump and his team led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio — we did manage to achieve a ceasefire between India and Pakistan,” said Bilawal. “This is a welcome first step, but it’s only a first step.”
