Pakistan Premier Flays EU Envoys Over Ukraine War

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday flayed European Union envoys for asking Islamabad to condemn Russia’s war on Ukraine.

In a letter to the Foreign Ministry this week, nearly two dozen EU ambassadors in Islamabad, including two veto powers, France and the UK, urged Pakistan to vote against Russia in a special UN General Assembly session on the Ukraine war.

Pakistan, however, stayed neutral along with China, India and several other countries.

“The EU ambassadors have written a letter asking us to condemn Russia. I want to ask if you have written any such letter to India,” Khan said, adding, “Are we (your) slaves do anything you say?”

“When India violated international laws in occupied Kashmir, did any one of you sever ties with India or halt trade?” he added, referring to New Delhi’s scrapping of the decades-long semi-autonomous status of the Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019.

He stated that Islamabad would not support any country in a war, but would support efforts to restore peace.

“What have we gained from our support for NATO in Afghanistan, other than the loss of 80,000 lives and a loss of $150 billion? Has NATO ever acknowledged our sacrifices? Did EU ambassadors ever write a letter praising our efforts in Afghanistan?”, he added.

In contrast, he continued, Pakistan was blamed for NATO’s failure in Afghanistan.

Pakistan has friendly relations with the US, Russia, China, and Europe, he said, adding, “Since we are neutral and not in any camp, we will try to collaborate with these countries to end the war in Ukraine,” he said.