Indian black face unmasked before world: Qureshi

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that Pakistan has unmasked the black face of India before the world community as Pakistan has always been following strategy of defusing tension with India but the adversary always wants to escalate matter with the neighbouring country. Speaking on a calling attention notice, the foreign minister said that Pakistan has actively been taking up with India the issue of release of its prisoners languishing in their jails. He said that Pakistan will continue to raise voice of Kashmiris at all international forums. Responding to the calling attention notice of Attaullah, Faheem Khan and others regarding non-release of 90 Pakistani fishermen from Karachi and Sukkur who are in prisons of India, he said it is a humanitarian issue.

The foreign minister regretted that India wants to escalate the matters with Pakistan.

He said India tried to escalate the situation following Pulwama incident, despite the fact that Pakistan had no connection with it and this has been recognised by the world as well.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Pakistan’s strategy has remained to defuse tension with India through goodwill gesture such as the release of Indian pilot as well as their 360 fishermen.

Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs Andleeb Abbas told the House that 585 Pakistani prisoners including 210 fishermen are languishing in Indian jails.

She said India will release four Pakistani fishermen on Tuesday next.

Meanwhile, responding to an earlier speech of the PML-N parliamentary leader Khawaja Asif, the defence minister Pervaiz Khattak said they knew how to respond to anger. “Please, do not be angry, we know how to respond to anger and how to defend our Speaker,” the defence minister said.

On that the PPP member Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said the defence minister’s remarks ‘our speaker’ should be expunged saying that the Speaker is custodian of the whole House.

On that Speaker Asad Qaisar said he had already stated that he is Speaker of the whole House.

Meanwhile, in written reply to a question, the House was informed that the fiscal deficit for 2017-18 at 6.6 percent of GDP was inherited by the present government. For the year 2018-19 fiscal deficit is targeted at 5.6 percent of the GDP. Based on provisional data fiscal deficit for first half of current financial year is 2.7 percent of the GDP.

The House was informed that the government has taken various measures to curtail the expenditure and to increase the revenue receipts to keep the deficit within limits.