ISLAMABAD, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday said Pakistan would welcome the third-party facilitation by Saudi Arabia or any other country for resumption of talks with India.<\/p>\n
\u201cPakistan is ready for third-party facilitation. It is India that has always shied away from it,\u201d the foreign minister said in a press conference held here at Ministry of Foreign Affairs.<\/p>\n
Qureshi said Saudi Arabia was the friend of Pakistan and also had business ties with India, which was a big importer of Saudi oil.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Saudi Arabia wants to play a role (in facilitating talks), we will welcome,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He recalled that the ceasefire agreement between Pakistan and India was welcomed by the world including Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
The foreign minister confirmed that there were \u201cno formal talks\u201d at the moment with India, however said if India wanted it to make it happen, it \u201cmust take the first step forward\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf India wants a meaningful dialogue with Pakistan, it has to review its policy on Kashmir and undo the revocation of their special status,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He called upon India to give relief to the Kashmiri people, who were suffering the 19-month-long military siege and the search and cordon operations, and thus \u201cpave way for a conducive environment for talks\u201d.<\/p>\n
To a question regarding his recent statement on Article-370 of the India constitution, he said Pakistan was firm on its stance that \u201cKashmir is not an internal matter of India\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cPakistan has not taken any U-turn and will never do so. The dispute, which is at the agenda of United Nations Security Council with several resolutions on it, cannot be an internal matter of India,\u201d he categorically said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPakistan has not taken any U-turn and will never do so. The dispute, which is at the agenda of United Nations Security Council with several resolutions on it, cannot be an internal matter of India,\u201d he categorically said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no ambiguity and Pakistan will continue highlighting the plight of Kashmiris at all international for a,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
By revoking Article 35-A, he said, India was distorting the demography of the Valley and denying the Kashmiris their identity.<\/p>\n
On Prime Minister Imran Khan\u2019s recent visit to Saudi Arabia, he said it led to development of a \u201cpositive understanding\u201d at both sides that promoting their mutual relationship was need of the hour.<\/p>\n
He said besides agreement on investments, bilateral trade and creation of job opportunities, the extraordinary development was putting in place for the first time an institutionalized mechanism with three pillars \u2013 security, economic and cultural and soft image, and chalking out who would be leading the respective areas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis Saudi visit was different in a sense that it defeated the designs of the elements that were trying to create a wedge between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Now, it is a win-win cooperation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Qureshi said under the Vision 2030 of Crown Prince, around 10 million workforce was required in next few years and the leadership wanted to allocate a big chuck for Pakistanis.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn addition to blue-collar jobs, we have to prepare our workforce for the white-collar jobs through their capacity-building at professional sides,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said the $500 million Saudi fund would help Pakistan meet its energy needs through development of hydropower projects.<\/p>\n
Qureshi said Saudi Arab had a special place in Muslim community which looked towards it for a leadership role, saying that Pakistan welcomed initiation of talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran to ease tension.<\/p>\n
Asked if the Saudi assistance to Pakistan would lead to favours in return, he said, \u201cPakistan is not paying a price. It knows its own interests\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cDiplomacy is not an instant job, but one has to chip and work on the matters through persistent efforts. Pakistan will protect its interests in any case,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Foreign Minister Qureshi said Pakistan stands with Afghanistan in its efforts for peace, prosperity, reconciliation and categorically stated that it did not side with any particular stakeholder.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will remain be partners in peace with Afghanistan and will continue to play our role as a facilitator,\u201d he said, a political solution through negotiations was in the interest of Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
He welcomed the recent ceasefire between the Taliban and Afghan government, saying that the positive development would enable a conducive environment towards negotiations.<\/p>\n
Qureshi dismissed that Pakistan would allow any military bases on its soil in the wake of withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will not allow boots on ground or allow military bases,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He assured the Afghan government and people that Pakistan wanted a strong and stable Afghanistan and \u201cwill not interfere in their internal matters\u201d.<\/p>\n
On situation of Palestine, the foreign minister strongly condemned the Israeli attacks on innocent worshippers at Al Aqsa mosque and called upon the international community to get mobilized to diffuse the conflict.<\/p>\n
Regarding the prime minister\u2019s recent criticism on foreign missions, he said the purpose was to bring improvement and avoid negligence aimed at facilitating the overseas Pakistanis. However, he pointed that it was unnecessary to make public an in-house meeting as several officials, though worked at the embassies were reporting to their own ministries and not Ministry of Foreign Affairs.<\/p>\n
The foreign minister vowed to \u201cnever let down the morale of diplomats\u201d, adding that a task force headed by Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood had been established and input asked from the missions abroad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday said Pakistan would welcome the third-party facilitation by Saudi Arabia or any other country for resumption of talks with India. \u201cPakistan is ready for third-party facilitation. It is India that has always shied away from it,\u201d the […]<\/p>\n
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