Response to child sexual abuse case, says case was solely a matter for UK authorities
Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Hussain Andrabi speaks at the FO’s weekly press briefing. SCREEN GRAB
Pakistan on Thursday renewed its call for restraint amid continued tensions involving the US and Iran, warning that further escalation would undermine regional stability and insisting “there is no alternative to sustained engagement, dialogue and diplomacy”.
Spokesman Tahir Andrabi, speaking at the Foreign Ministry’s weekly media briefing, said Pakistan remained “deeply concerned” by recent developments in the region and had been actively engaged with regional partners to support de-escalation.
“We stressed that a renewed conflict does not serve anyone’s interests” and called on all parties to avoid actions that could further inflame the situation.
🔴LIVE: Spokesperson’s weekly press briefing 16-07-2026 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Islamabad
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“There is no alternative to sustained engagement, dialogue and diplomacy,” Andrabi said, adding that disputes could only be resolved “through dialogue at the negotiating tables”.
He said Pakistan would continue to encourage all parties to resume talks at the technical level under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding and the Pakistan-Qatar Joint Statement of June 22.
Andrabi said the ongoing tensions are already affecting countries outside the region, particularly those in the Global South, citing concerns over trade, food security and global energy supplies. He also expressed hope for an early return to normality in the Strait of Hormuz and stressed the importance of protecting freedom of navigation.
The spokesman said Pakistan had remained actively engaged with regional leaders over the past week in an effort to support de-escalation.
He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in separate phone calls with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, had stressed restraint and the need to preserve the fragile peace achieved in recent weeks.
According to Andrabi, the Qatari leader thanked Pakistan for playing “an active role, a leading role for peace in the region,” while President Pezeshkian reaffirmed Iran’s commitment to peace and appreciated Islamabad’s “constructive support” for regional stability.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar also held separate calls with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during which they discussed the latest developments and agreed to remain in close contact.
Read: Iran will ‘neutralize US interventions in the region’, says army spokesman
On other diplomatic engagements, Andrabi confirmed that Dar had left for Shanghai, where he will sign the basic instrument of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO) on behalf of Pakistan.
He said Pakistan would join the China-backed body as a founding member and Dar would also participate in the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference and hold a series of bilateral meetings on the sidelines.
Andrabi also highlighted a number of recent diplomatic engagements, including Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman’s visit to Islamabad, annual bilateral consultations with Portugal and President Asif Ali Zardari’s visit to Kyrgyzstan – the first by a Pakistani president to the Central Asian country in more than two decades.
He said Pakistan had also hosted the 9th OIC Ministerial Conference on Women, attended by delegates from the organization’s 57 member states, and submitted its seventh national report under UN Security Council Resolution 1540, which he said reflected Pakistan’s commitment to international non-proliferation obligations.
During the question-and-answer session, Andrabi rejected India’s latest indictment against six All Parties Hurriyat Conference leaders, including the late Syed Ali Geelani, describing it as another attempt to use “similar legal processes” against the Kashmiri leadership.
He said the reopening of a case dating back nearly three decades demonstrated how India’s legal institutions were being used “to advance a political agenda” and maintained that such actions could not change “the internationally recognized disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir”.
Andrabi also rejected India’s claims linking Pakistan to the Pahalgam attack, calling them “baseless and politically motivated”. He said Pakistan continued to seek an “independent, transparent and credible investigation” and claimed that India had yet to provide credible evidence to support its allegations.
Responding to a question about a child sexual abuse case in the United Kingdom, Andrabi condemned child sexual abuse “in the strongest possible terms” and said offenders should face the full force of the law.
He said the case was solely a matter for the British authorities, noting that the person in question was a British national convicted by a British court. Pakistan, he said, had “no connection whatsoever with this case” and no role in decisions about the individual’s release or legal status.
