ISLAMABAD: Pakistan wanted "balanced, objective and broad-based relations" with all countries, including the United States and the European Union, a Foreign Office spokesman said on Friday, after Islamabad abstained from a United Nations vote to reprimand Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
The UNGA resolution, supported by 141 of the assembly’s 193 members, ended a rare emergency session called by the UN Security Council as Ukrainian forces battled on in the face of Russian air strikes that have forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee.
The text of the resolution “deplores” Russia’s “aggression against Ukraine.” Thirty-five members including China, India and Pakistan abstained and five countries including Russia, Syria and Belarus voted against the resolution. While General Assembly resolutions are non-binding, they carry political weight.
Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman, Asim Iftikhar Ahmed, issued the statement during his weekly press briefing on Friday, the state-run Radio Pakistan reported.
"Pakistan pursues a clear-minded and well-thought-outforeign policy," the report quoted Ahmed as saying.
"Pakistan also wants cordial relations with its neighbours."
About the evacuation of Pakistani nationals from Ukraine, the spokesman said Pakistan's mission was working round the clock to provide all possible assistance in evacuating Pakistani citizens to safer places.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was in Moscow to meet President Vladimir Putin last week on the day Russian forces entered Ukraine. Pakistan has expressed concern about the fallout from the invasion but stopped short of condemning it.
In a telephonic conversation with European Commission Vice President Josep Borell on Thursday, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi “recalled that Prime Minister Imran Khan had regretted the latest situation between Russia and Ukraine, and had shared Pakistan’s hope that diplomacy could avert military conflict. Underscoring the adverse effects of conflict on developing countries, the Prime Minister has been stressing the importance of diplomatic solution,” according to the Pakistani Foreign Office.
Qureshi expressed “deep concern at the recent turn of events” and urged dialogue and diplomacy, saying Pakistan had “consistently stressed the need for de- escalation, renewed negotiations, sustained dialogue, and continuous diplomacy.”
Borell acknowledged the importance of continued efforts for finding a diplomatic solution.
