The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has denied the claims that it had rebuffed news of the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM), Tariq Fatemi’s trip to the US.
The Spokesperson for the Foreign Office, Asim Iftikhar, said in a statement that the media story about the SAPM’s visit to Washington DC is ‘factually incorrect and misleading’.
“Misleading reports and speculation are unhelpful and must be avoided,” he stressed.
The spokesperson also explained that during the SAPM’s private visit to Washington DC, his meetings were facilitated by the Pakistan Embassy there.
“Embassy officials also participated in the meetings. There was, therefore, no question of ‘disavowing’ it,” he stated.
Iftikhar also denied declaring that the FO had no part in the SAPM’s meeting with the US authorities.
Note that previous media reports had portrayed that the FO had refuted information that the SAPM had met with the Senior US Assistant Secretary of State, Wendy Sherman, in Washington DC and had ‘termed it as a personal trip’.
