Domestic issues behind India’s reluctance to talk, says Qureshi
NEW YORK — Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has alleged that India’s “domestic political and electoral compulsions” were behind New Delhi’s reluctance to talk to the new government in Islamabad.
India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Qureshi were slated to meet last week on the sidelines of the ongoing UN General Assembly session in New York. However, India called off the meeting after initially agreeing to the meeting, citing the killings of three policemen in Indian-administered Kashmir and Islamabad releasing postage stamps commemorating slain iconic Kashmiri youth leader Burhan Wani.
“Why are they reluctant? Simply politics, elections ... they are scared of the electorate. They have swung the pendulum to such an extreme (that), now they’re finding it difficult to bring it back. And (with) the elections round the corner, they (the Indian government) felt that it could boomerang,” Qureshi said on Friday in response to a question at an event organised by the Asia Society here.
When asked about the reaction of Indian minister Sushma Swaraj
who left a meeting of the Saarc foreign ministers which was attended by Qureshi, he said, “I wish we were going to smile at each other. But (I) could see the immense strain (on Swaraj’s face). And when she left, she wasn’t even willing to engage with the media ... I could see the pressure, I could see the political (pressure) on her.”
“So, politics, nothing else, politics, domestic politics (made India reluctant to talk to Pakistan),” he said. It was sad to see how “a regional forum (Saarc) had become hostage” to the needs of one nation, he added.
Qureshi said he was disappointed by India’s reaction to the peace gestures from Prime Minister Imran Khan. “Pakistan is still ready for talks. Whenever you’re ready, Pakistan will not shy away,” he added.
The foreign minister, who is scheduled to meet US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday, said, “Today, India is a strategic partner of the US. We have no qualms about it. But we feel that Pakistan is an ally who has always stood with the US.”
Qureshi said whenever Pakistan stood with the US, it has benefited America. “Whether it was the Cold War, the Soviet invasion or the 9/11 terror attack, we were the ones to stand with the US and collectively we decimated that evil,” he said.
He said the Trump administration will miss an opportunity if it does not engage with the new government of Pakistan.
Qureshi said that Pakistan was trying to reconnect with the United States. “You can have new friends, but why lose old friends,” he posed the question.
Qureshi also said Pakistan wanted to play a positive role in Afghanistan, but that Afghanistan was not the only responsibility of it.
In response to a question about maintaining a balance with regard to ties with the US and China, Qureshi said China understood the history of Pakistan’s relationship with the US and had no issues regarding this.
Qureshi also sought US intervention in the Indo-Pak talks. “If the US wants us to help, and we want to help in our own interest because we want peace in the region, then they (America) have to tell the new strategic partner (India) to give us ease on the eastern side so that we can concentrate on areas of mutual interest,” he said. — PTI, APP