Islamabad: The country‘s foreign minister, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, has reaffirmed his commitment to taking the lead in defending press freedom and journalists’ rights. In a message on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, which is observed today, he stated that the PPP will keep doing everything in its power to foster a perfect environment for press freedom in the nation by raising people’s media literacy. According to Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, we support the continued development and consistent application of the Right to Information laws. The foreign minister claimed that during their administrations, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed and former President Asif Ali Zardari abolished the harsh restrictions on press freedom imposed by the dictators.
He also strongly condemned India’s restrictions on press in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and emphasized that the international community, including the journalist bodies must play their role against brutality being carried out against journalists in the occupied valley.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will leave for India Thursday to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Goa, sources said Wednesday.
FM Bhutto will be the first Pakistani foreign minister to visit India in nearly 12 years.
According to MOFA spokesperson Mumtaz Zahrah Baloch, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari will be leading the Pakistan delegation to the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM), which will take place in the Indian city of Goa on May 4 and 5.
Pakistan’s foreign minister will also hold meetings on the sidelines of the SCO moot during his visit of India.
“Our participation in the meeting reflects Pakistan’s commitment to the SCO charter and processes and the importance that Pakistan accords to the region in its foreign policy priorities,” Baloch said in a weekly press briefing.
She recalled that Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had last year in July also attended the session of the Council of Foreign Ministers in Tashkent.?
The foreign minister attending the moot on the invitation of current chairman of SCO CFM Dr S Jaishankar, India’s Minister for External Affairs.
Separately, Foreign Minister Bhutto also confirmed that he would be attending the upcoming SCO moot in India.
“It will be a gathering of foreign ministers and I will go there as a representative of Pakistan,” he told reporters at a press conference in Islamabad.
