Pakistan furious at America

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has termed as arbitrary the US’s declaration of it as a country of special concern. Pakistan said that this is completely out of the ground reality and casts serious doubts on the credibility of the exercise. The US on Wednesday described several nations including Pakistan, China, Iran, North Korea and Myanmar as “countries of particular concern” over religious freedom violations.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “I condemn institutional violence against religious freedom to Burma (Myanma), People’s Republic of China (China), Eritrea, Iran, DPRK (Korea), Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. and declare a ‘country of particular concern’ to engage in or tolerate serious violations.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman Asim Iftikhar Ahmed said that the declaration of Pakistan as a “State of Special Concern” was “totally beyond ground reality and casts serious doubts on the credibility of the exercise.” “Such naming does not promote religious freedom around the world,” he said.