Multan - Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi categorically declared yesterday that there was no threat to the 18th Amendment, constitution and democracy.

Talking to the media here he said, “However, the interests of many political personalities may be in danger.” He said the government acknowledged the constitutional rights of the provinces and there was no threat to their rights.

He said Pakistan had no intention to interfere in internal affairs of India, asking New Delhi not to blame Pakistan for its own mess.

He said there was nothing weird in his contacting Mirwaiz Umar Farooq as Kashmir was a disputed issue. “India gets infuriated if Kashmir issue is highlighted,” he added.

He said “We will show the real cruel face of India to the world through international conference being held by the All Parties Parliamentary Group of House of Commons of UK.” He said the conference would help present Pakistan’s viewpoint on Kashmir.

He declared that the government would make a foreign policy in light of aspirations of people and national interest. He added that Pakistan achieved remarkable successes on diplomatic level during the last few months.

“It is our big achievement that those who did not want to even listen to us now want to meet us,” he added. He said the relations with Saudi Arabia improved and Saudi Crown Prince was going to visit Pakistan on February 19.

He said the crown prince would announce a big investment in Pakistan during his visit while a comprehensive plan would also be evolved to further improve relations. Qureshi pointed out that Pakistan’s relations with Qatar and UAE also improved considerably and all the three Arab countries expressed deep interest in making investment in Pakistan.

He said the PML-N and PPP registered cases against each other but now they had united to defend their corruption.

He said the PPP propagated that PTI was going to strike any deal. “I publicly reject this claim and clearly tell that we have not struck any deal with anyone,” he said. The foreign minister added that the PML-N and PPP, however, had made a deal for their political survival.

He said Bilawal Zardari did not need to hold a long march in Sindh as PPP government in Sindh had no threat from any other quarter but their own poor governance and corruption. He said the final decision makers in Pakistan were people and they gave verdict in favour of PTI. Qureshi said the PTI government wanted to take forward the process of accountability in transparent manner but some powers were creating hurdles.

Answering a question regarding Asif Zardari’s statement, he said the job of journalists was not to make or break government rather their job was to do reporting. Qureshi said, “We need to launch a joint effort against Daesh and Al-Qaeda as Daesh is a power which can destabilise the region.” He said Daesh existed in Syria and Afghanistan and China, Russia, USA, Iran, Oman and many other countries had a consensus that this menace should not spread.

To a query on increase in Haj expenditures, he said the expenses went up due to increase in dollar price against rupee. He said the government had a strong desire that maximum number of Pakistanis should perform Haj. Qureshi said creation of south Punjab province was part of PTI’s manifesto and the government would develop national consensus on this topic.

 

APP adds: Qureshi said Pakistan was ready to work with next Indian government in case it wanted to work with Pakistan.

He said election in India was her internal matter and Pakistan had no intention to interefere. “Although, issues are emerging in India but Pakistan has no role in this regard,” he added.

Qureshi said Kashmir dispute needed to be resolved, adding that Pakistan, India and Kashmiris were three important identities in this regard. He said he had an exchange of views with Kashmiri leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq but India should not make it an issue.

“We want to resolve Kashmir dispute through dialogue but India was raising undue hue and cry,” he said.

He added that Pakistan government would try to hold talks with next Indian government.

Qureshi also informed that he was going to attend House of Common (London), wherein, he would highlight Pakistan’s view point on Kashmir issue.

The foreign minister maintained that successful diplomacy of the incumbent government had improved Pakistan’s relations with other countries. He said new agreements are expected to be signed during Saudi crown prince visit to Pakistan.

Qureshi said the PTI government had immense respect for constitutional rights of the provinces.

When questioned whether PTI government will be able to recover looted money, the foreign minister said the PTI government would try its best to recover the plundered money from corrupt elements.

Qureshi stated the federal government would not make any effort to dislodge Sindh government. In another reply, Qureshi said PML-Q had no reservations against the PTI government.