ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is its primary public interface; and an open platform. The Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s decision to have the website upgraded is in line with his vision of leading the Foreign Office into the modern & innovative digital age and making the Foreign Office website more user friendly. The Ministry is, therefore, currently working on its improved and updated version, said a press release issued on Friday by the Foreign Office.
The press release stated that the new layout of the publicly open website is being designed by a reputed web designing company, which was assigned the task on purely professional basis in view of requirement for specialized external design expertise. The assigned company has neither family link nor personal relationship with the foreign minister. It is a specialized digital design agency.
There is no government/public funding involved in the design cost. The foreign minister is personally paying the design cost as a token of his appreciation and commitment to the Foreign Office and its personnel. In his address to all the officers of the Foreign Ministry on October, 2019, the Foreign Minister announced that the new web design for which he would personally bear the cost would be his “gift to the Ministry and its officers.”
The information contained in the Foreign Office website is not classified, as it is for the facilitation of the general public, not just in Pakistan but also globally. There is no question of security being compromised in any event given that the website redesign team is simply graphically redesigning the site based on publicly available content on the existing website.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to undertake improvements and upgradation in all areas, as required. Malicious attempts to malign such constructive measures are regrettable.
