Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Sunday said the Kashmir issue has been highlighted at the international level due to the ongoing indigenous freedom movement and sacrifices of the people of Indian-held Kashmir (IHK).
A new wave of freedom is being witnessed across the occupied valley, which will not stop till the solution of the Kashmir dispute, Qureshi said while addressing a ceremony organised in his honour here. The minister said Pakistan doesn’t want war with India. “However, it does not mean that we will make any compromise on the Kashmir issue,” he reiterated. India should take into account the reasons for the new wave of freedom in the occupied valley, he added. Qureshi said the 700,000-strong Indian army has failed to suppress the freedom struggle despite all sorts of atrocities. He said the Kashmiris are burying their martyrs, after wrapping them in the Pakistani flag.
The minister said the incumbent government has successfully highlighted the Kashmir issue at all international forums and voiced for the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people. Pakistan also raised the issue in the House of Commons, he added.
Qureshi said India wants to isolate Pakistan diplomatically and has unsuccessfully tried to humiliate it at every forum. He said New Delhi blames Islamabad without any evidence whenever any unwanted incident happens.
Pakistan doesn’t want war with India but will never make any compromise on Kashmir issue
The United States considers India as its strategic partner and not Pakistan, he said. “In August 2017, the US announced a new policy called South Asian Strategy Policy. They said they want to give India an enhanced role in Afghanistan,” he said. “Whenever something happens, the European Union would point the finger at Pakistan,” he lamented. “Pakistan is in the middle of a strategic squeeze. Everyone wants to isolate us. Narendra Modi himself accepted that they took measures to isolate Pakistan,” he remarked, adding that India and Bangladesh have held South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) hostage.
“Difficult times have come in the past, and will also come in future. The government was faced with many challenges when it came to power. Pakistan was on the brink of bankruptcy. Pakistan had been put on the FATF grey list during the previous government’s tenure,” he said, adding that a change, however, has started coming in. “Intentions do matter but the reward is given by Allah. Pakistan will remain until the end of the world,” he said.
Qureshi said the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project has entered into the next phase.
He said Pakistan wants peace in Afghanistan. Prime Minister Imran Khan has always said that the Afghan issue can be resolved through negotiation and not military action, he recalled.
He said improving ties with the US is in Pakistan’s interest. President Donald Trump has recently acknowledged Pakistan government’s peace efforts, he added.
Published in Daily Times, March 11th 2019.
