Indian Cold Start Doctrine futile: Qureshi

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi Thursday said in the Senate a stable and peaceful neighborhood is Pakistan’s requirement in order to improve its socio-economic conditions, being the need of India as well.

The minister emphasised that India must realise the high price Pakistan has paid in fighting the war against terrorism, pointing out no other nation had sacrificed 75,000 people in this war, besides suffering losses of billions of rupees.

He said the Indian Cold Start Doctrine will prove to be a stupidity and any accidental collision will be suicidal. The deteriorating situation in Indian Held Kashmir, he pointed out, was unprecedented in the recent past with Indian forces unleashing repression and atrocities on the Kashmiris. He said Pakistan had played its due part for the recently concluded talks between the United States and Taliban by bringing all the stakeholders and regional powers on board to find a political solution to the Afghan conflict.

Giving an update to the Senate on recent developments in relation to a calling attention notice by ex-chairman Senate Mian Raza Rabbani, he said it is because of Pakistan’s efforts, China and the US are closer on the Afghan issue and so were Qatar and Iran to Saudi Arabia on the Yemeni conflict.

The minister described the latest round of dialogue between the US and the Taliban as a good development, saying the meetings went well. He said Pakistan is being criticised for pursuing the policy of finding a peaceful solution to the Afghan conflict through political dialogue. “Now our stance has been acknowledged…But this development did not happen overnight. There was quiet diplomacy behind the development. The meetings that were held in UAE went well. Despite diplomatic tension between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, he said they were taken on board and their representatives and those from UAE were also present in the meetings. He said Qatar and Saudi Arabia were not ready to sit together, but they were brought together on this issue. He continued that not only were these three countries, but China and Iran are also very important countries of the region. He added that Iran, which is neighbour of Pakistan and Afghanistan and is equally concerned about the Afghan conflict and the growing rise of Daesh there.

The minister referred to his recent visit to Afghanistan for the trilateral meeting with his Chinese and Afghan counterparts, saying he also held very productive meetings with the Afghan leadership. “And we are moving forward”, he said, adding: “We are on the same page on many issues in the trilateral forums as well”.

On Saudi Arabia, Qureshi said Prime Minister Imran Khan visited the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia twice. He maintained that it was the first state visit by Pakistan after 30 years, adding there was no contact between Pakistan with Saudi Arabia and UAE for quite some time. He noted the credit deferred oil facility is of dollars 9 billion, which, both PPP and PML-N governments also wanted to obtain, but could not. “We have reestablished the contacts with Saudi Arabia and restored the shaken confidence of the UAE”, he said, adding a high level delegation from Saudi Arabia will be visiting Pakistan in February next year while the Crown Prince of UAE will arrive in the country next month.

About India, he said that dialogue is the only option to resolve all the outstanding issues between India and Pakistan. Referring to the cancelled meeting between foreign ministers of both countries on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York, Qureshi said India had initially agreed on the meeting but later backtracked due to domestic political compulsions.

On the opening of Kartarpur Corridor, he said the gesture by Pakistan was made for peace and completing the long-standing demand of the Sikh community to visit their holiest places. He said the Indian cabinet held a meeting and decided to reciprocate this gesture and did the groundbreaking a day earlier than Pakistan.