LAHORE — Punjab Prisons Minister Fayazul Hassan Chohan has explained why Prime Minister Imran Khan couldn’t afford to expel the French ambassador from Pakistan, as demanded by a now banned religious group.
Speaking on a live show on a news channel, Chohan said that Pakistan had been in the clutches of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for the last few years and the government had just completed compliance with 24 of the 27 agenda points handed over by the FATF, an intergovernmental organisation founded by the G7 to combat money laundering and terrorism financing.
He said that Pakistan was just three points away from full compliance with the FATF agenda, but still international powers, including India, were trying their best to destroy Pakistan economically, socially and geographically. In the prevailing situation when Pakistan is fighting for survival, he said, it could not afford to give Europe a look of defiance or expel European ambassadors.
Chohan addrd that Imran Khan was the first Muslim leader in the entire world who spoke on the floor of the United Nations about the honour of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). He quoted the prime minister as saying that Europe should ban criticism of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) the way it banned criticism of the Holocaust.
The provincial minister said that expelling the French ambassador would be tantamount to providing enemies of Pakistan an opportunity to hit Pakistan’s interests. He quoted the owner of a news channel as saying that Italian ambassador told him that all European countries would call their diplomats back and terminate their diplomatic relations with Pakistan if Islamabad expels the French ambassador.
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