Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, the spokeswoman for the Foreign Office, denied in the media on Friday the reports of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) delegation’s arrival to Pakistan.
The declaration was released one day after prominent members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) US chapter, together with a multitude of people whose online behaviour suggested they were party supporters, uploaded a video clip taken from an Indian news programme carried by Zed News.
In the segment, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi met.
In an X post, Baloch claimed that stories about the high-level IAEA delegation’s visit to Pakistan were false.
There is no truth to the rumours that a senior IAEA group is visiting Pakistan! There isn’t an IAEA official in Pakistan right now, and there aren’t any upcoming policy discussions with the organisation. DG IAEA went to Pakistan in February of 2023. We had informed the media about the event.
She said that no IAEA representative is currently in Pakistan and that there are no upcoming policy meetings with the UN organisation scheduled. “We had informed the media about the event,” she said in closing.
PM Shehbaz emphasised increased cooperation with IAEA in terms of research on new high-yield and drought-resistant crop types during their meeting with Grossi in February 2023.
The prime minister highlighted cooperation at a meeting with the IAEA Director General in light of Pakistan’s vulnerability to climate change and associated issues with food, energy, and water security.
Shehbaz pointed out that Pakistan’s energy mix includes nuclear power generation as a more cost-effective and environmentally friendly energy source.
The prime minister expressed gratitude for Pakistan’s continued cooperation with the IAEA in the fields of nuclear medicine, industry, agriculture, health, and power production.
He underlined Pakistan’s desire to increase its involvement in the Agency’s work as a source and a recipient of knowledge and technical help, and he expressed Pakistan’s complete support for all of the Agency’s projects and activities.
Grossi was educated on the critical role being played by the 19 cancer hospitals run by the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), which was responsible for the majority of Pakistan’s cancer cases and provided low-cost services to the general public.
The Director General of the IAEA concurred that increasing nuclear technology applications in nations such as Pakistan is necessary to tackle a wide range of climate-related issues.
