ISLAMABAD - Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said yesterday that there can be no stability in South Asia without the resolution of the Kashmir issue.
Speaking at the Margalla Dialogue Forum 2021 – Foreign Policy Challenges of Future in Changing Geopolitical Landscape, organised here by the Islamabad Policy Research Institute, Qureshi said India has closed all doors on any kind of talks.
“What’s more, it took the most drastic militaristic steps to invade and lay siege to the disputed territory of the Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, disenfranchise its 14 million people and brutalize them,” he added. The foreign minister said that New Delhi’s actions in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir have created a conundrum for Indian apologists in Kashmir and even for India’s foreign friends.
“The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), of which the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is the flagship project, will leverage economic geography and connectivity of the three contiguous continents – Asia, Europe and Africa – ushering in prosperity for all global citizens,” he added. The foreign minister said that Pakistan valued its longstanding relations with the United States. He, however, added that looking towards the future, Pakistan did not want a transactional relationship with US. “We want multifaceted ties that are not susceptible to the vagaries of regional and international policies,” he added. The foreign minister said the Afghan government has assured all its neighbours that their soil will not be allowed to be used for terrorism, adding, the same message has been given by Kabul to extra-regional powers.
“There is a dire humanitarian crisis looming which has consequences not only for the people of Afghanistan but indeed for us as neighbours, the region and beyond,” the foreign minister said. He said that Pakistan will host an extraordinary session of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to mobilise support for providing adequate food, medicine and housing to millions of Afghans in dire distress.
The foreign minister said as the developed and developing countries were all vulnerable to the devastations of the global pandemic, Pakistan has done well in beating the coronavirus by using a mix of smart lockdowns and aggressive vaccination campaigns.
Qureshi said that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision and roadmap for the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami and Clean Green Pakistan will go a long way in making Pakistan a model country to combat climate change and its impact.
Speaking on the occasion, former US ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter lashed out at US foreign policies and admitted that the US attack on Iraq was the biggest mistake of the US administration. “In last fifty years the biggest mistake of the US was to attack Iraq,” Munter told Margalla dialogue organised by Islamabad policy Institute in Islamabad. Munter has also served as US diplomat in Iraq during its reconstruction period. Commenting on Pakistan’s relations with China and the US, he said it was imperative for Islamabad to maintain ties with both countries on an equal basis which would be in the interest of Pakistan.
“Pakistan should not distance itself from both countries,” Munter said. On Afghanistan, he lauded Pakistan’s role for organizing the OIC foreign minister conference and hoped it would fulfil the core objectives.
Addressing the dialogue, former US deputy secretary of state Robin Rafeel said Afghanistan is facing humanitarian crisis which needs the attention of not only the US but all global powers. She said cooperation by Afghan Taliban in countering terrorism in Afghanistan would be considered a good sign of the Kabul government.
She expressed her concern over rising Hindu extremism in India and said the Indian government has to control this extremism.
Addressing the seminar, British High Commissioner to Pakistan Christian tuner said Pakistan is facing the rising population issue which needs to be addressed. He also said climate change is affecting Pakistan for which timely steps are required.