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PAKISTAN-INDIA-AFGHANISTAN-DIPLOMACY
Pakistan’s new foreign minister calls for dialogue with India
ISLAMABAD, Aug 20, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Pakistan wants an “uninterrupted,
continued dialogue” with arch-rival India, its new foreign minister said
Monday, stressing the importance of talks between the nuclear-armed countries
who have fought three wars.
“We are not only two neighbours but we are two atomic powers,” Shah
Mehmood Qureshi, who became Pakistan’s foreign minister for the second time
after being sworn in Monday, told his first press conference.
Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Imran Khan also called for a better
relationship with India in his first televised address late Sunday, as did
the previous government of Nawaz Sharif.
But Sharif’s overtures to India are widely believed to have incurred
opposition from Pakistan’s powerful military, and he was ousted by the
Supreme Court last year for alleged corruption.
“We have long-lasting problems… we don’t have, in my opinion, any
solution other than talks,” Qureshi said of the relationship with India,
especially in a situation “where reaction time is very limited”.
“We need an uninterrupted, continued dialogue,” he said, referencing
Kashmir in particular.
Relations between India and Pakistan have been tense ever since
independence from Britain in 1947 — particularly over Kashmir, the divided
Himalayan territory over which they have fought two of their three wars.
Qureshi said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sent a letter
congratulating Khan, and “sent a message to start talks”.
There was no official statement on the letter from the Indian foreign
ministry, but the Press Trust of India also reported its existence and
content.
The new foreign minister also said he wanted to travel to Afghanistan to
deliver a “message of love, friendship and a new beginning”.
“Without peace and stability in Afghanistan, there won’t be rest, peace
and stability in Pakistan,” he said.
Kabul has long accused Islamabad of harbouring insurgent groups on its
territory, including the Afghan Taliban. They are believed to have links to
Pakistan’s shadowy military establishment, which aims to use them as a
bulwark against India. Pakistan has denied the claims but they are echoed in
Washington, with whom Islamabad’s relations are also tense.
In January the US suspended security assistance to Pakistan over
accusations it was aiding militants.
“I have some idea of their priorities and concerns,” said Qureshi, adding
that he will talk to them “straight”.
Qureshi previously held the position of foreign minister between 2008 and
2011.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1824 hrs