FO rejects claims about sending mangoes

Islamabad, 14June: FO (Foreign Office) Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhry on Sunday rejected claims that Pakistan is sending mangoes to foreign dignitaries as gifts and dismissed related media reports as “factually incorrect and misleading.”

“We have seen media reports regarding the dispatch of Pakistani mangoes last week as a gift to some foreign dignitaries. We reject these reports as factually incorrect and misleading,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Foreign Office(FO) Spokesperson said a section of the Indian media had carried wrong and irresponsible reports, adding that every year, the President of Pakistan sent high-quality mangoes as a gift to selected countries as part of goodwill and to promote trade diplomacy efforts.

Consequently, the mango exports increased to $104 million in 2019-20 from $78 million the previous year, he explained.

The FO spokesperson said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs prepared a list of countries keeping in view quarantine regulations, sanitary and phytosanitary requirements as well as the availability of flights. Since last year, COVID-19 related stipulations are also part of the consideration.

“For the current year, the process is still in the planning stage. As such, there is no question of dispatch of mangoes to any country,” he added.

Read more: Prime Minister Imran says terrorism has no religion

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday called for strict action against websites fanning hatred to create a divide in humanity and urged the Muslim world to present their case at international forums to improve understanding about Islam.

The prime minister, in an interview with the CBC’s chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton, said the use of terms Islamic extremism and Islamic radical started after the publication of Salman Rushdie’s book and then the 9/11 incident.

The prime minister highlighted the grave issue of Islamophobia in the Western world which claimed the lives of four members of a Pakistan-origin family in Ontario last week.

The Canadian police say the family was targeted because they were Muslim. The family moved to Canada from Pakistan in 2007.