March 11, 2016
News
Nuclear programme above judicial oversight: FO
OnlineISLAMABAD: Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria on Thursday said Pakistan’s nuclear programme is a matter of its national defence and security which falls exclusively within its domestic jurisdiction and is therefore not to be called into question by any court, including the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Also, he said providing security to the teams in World T20 Cricket is the responsibility of host country, India. Pakistan fulfilled its responsibilities by providing fool-proof security to teams in the past. On a separate issue, he said he does not have information regarding the offer to Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif to lead the 34-nation military coalition formed by Saudi Arabia. To the question that Marshall Islands had sought to bring a case against nine countries, Britain, China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, and the United States in International Tribunal, the spokesperson said Pakistan is not a signatory to NPT, so it can’t come into its jurisdiction.
Zakaria said Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI), with which Pakistan maintains no diplomatic relations, has filed suits at ICJ against all the nine nuclear weapons states (NWS) of the world. However, in conformity with the Statute of the Court, only Pakistan, India and the United Kingdom have been asked to respond to the RMI’s suits since these countries recognised the jurisdiction of the court for certain specific issues at the time of their ratification of the Court’s Statute.
The case brought up by RMI does not fall within the scope of those specific issues over which Pakistan recognises the ICJ’s jurisdiction. The government of Pakistan has submitted a comprehensive written response to the court in the form of a Counter-Memorial, seeking dismissal of the RMI’s suit for lack of the court’s jurisdiction to entertain the RMI’s claims and the inadmissibility of the RMI’s application. Drafted pursuant to the rules and jurisprudence of the court and strictly limited to preliminary issues of the court’s jurisdiction and the admissibility of the RMI’s application, Pakistan’s Counter-Memorial emphasises that Pakistan’s nuclear programme is a matter of its national defence and security.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk