Opposition divided over Azadi March: Qureshi

MULTAN: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Iran would be a milestone in easing the tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia to save the region from making it a conflict zone.

Talking to journalists here on Friday while inaugurating sewerage projects in his constituency, he said both Iran and Saudi Arabia are brotherly Islamic countries and Prime Minister Imran Khan was making efforts to settle the issues between them through dialogue. He said some forces wanted bloodshed in the region, but Pakistan wants peace. Imran Khan would not only visit Iran but also Saudi Arabia to settle affairs between the two countries.The prime minister is making efforts to remove misunderstandings between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Responding to a query, Qureshi said Pakistan had foiled Indian attempts to blacklist the country at the Financial Action Task Force. Pakistan has taken timely measures to prevent money laundering to meet the FATF criteria. He said the PTI government has delivered much more against money laundering, which was not done in the past 10 years. He said Turkey is one of the closest friends of Pakistan and the government is developing ties with Turkey.

The foreign minister ruled out resumption of dialogue with India in the current scenario, saying that India is not serious about peace talks. A third force should mediate on the Kashmir dispute for its permanent solution. He said the United Nations has double standards as it speaks on violence in Syria but keeps mum over rights’ violation and more than two months long curfew in Indian-held Kashmir. He said Imran Khan has tweeted over the double standards of the UN.

Responding to another query, he said the opposition had been divided over Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s Azadi March. Pakistan Muslim League-N President Shahbaz Sharif has flatly refused to join the Azadi March. He said the opposition parties lacked consensus over the Azadi March. Shahbaz expressed anger over the statement of Captain (retd) Safdar in this regard.

He said Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has declared sit-in politics against democracy. He said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf staged a peaceful sit-in. He said the entire Pakistan is observing a black day on October 27 against the illegal invasion of Kashmir by Indian forces. Indian forces had occupied Kashmir on October 27 and Maulana Fazl would organize his Azadi March instead of observing the black day. He said the PTI government is making efforts to improve the economy. The PTI would remove hurdles in the way of swift foreign investment.