Won’t be part of any regional conflict: India has backtracked on steps for peace, says Qureshi

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has decided not to be part of any regional conflict and has consciously chosen to be only a partner for peace and development, while in principle it is also ready to consider East-West connectivity to help address the challenges of poverty and underdevelopment in South Asia.

“But, obviously, we need a willing partner that is ready to engage in good faith, that is prepared to eschew belligerence, and that is committed to meaningfully address the factors that have bedeviled peace and security in South Asia for decades.

Our government had, at the outset in 2018, offered that if India took one step forward for peace, Pakistan will take two. But, unfortunately, India chose to take several steps backwards, said Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in his keynote Speech on Regional Peace and Security on the second day of the Islamabad Dialogue.

Sending a clear message to India, Qureshi said durable peace, security and development in the region hinged on peaceful resolution of the long-standing Jammu and Kashmir dispute. Unlike the speeches of Prime Minister Imran Khan and COAS Qamar Bajwa, which were more reconciliatory, he did not mince his words.

“It is clear that India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019 in IIOJK, and the ensuing military siege and indiscriminate repression of Kashmiris, caused incalculable damage to the prospects of peace,” he said, adding that the world saw the consequences. South Asia once again teetered on the brink.

Qureshi asked India to stop violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms in IIOJK; halt its illegal attempts to change the demographic structure of the occupied territory; and implement the UN Security Council resolutions which guaranteed the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination through a free and impartial plebiscite under UN auspices.

In this regard, he asked India to rethink its policy of fomenting destabilization in Pakistan and embrace a progressive agenda that can benefit the entire region. “Mutually agreed restraints on nuclear capabilities and conventional forces remain indispensable for strategic stability in South Asia. In essence, the onus is on India to create an enabling environment”, said the foreign minister.

Pakistan, he pointed out, had fully resolved to protect its vital national security interests, while its emphasis was shifting from geo-politics to geo-economics. “Terrorism in Pakistan has been actively sponsored, aided and abetted from across our borders. Introduction of destabilizing weapons systems in our region, coupled with offensive doctrines and a growing propensity for military mis-adventurism, is accentuating challenges to strategic stability”, he said.

Emphasizing Pakistan’s location making a natural hub for economic confluence for competing states, Qureshi said it was beneficial for all if rather than partake of geo-political competition and rivalries, win-win cooperation leads to co-existence.

“We envision Pakistan emerging as the gateway to landlocked Central Asia and Afghanistan. We will endeavor to reap peace dividends in Afghanistan in the form of enhanced connectivity with Central Asia”, he added.

Pakistan sees the world is going through profound transformation which is another pivotal, defining moment in history, at a time when new security partnerships are being forged and old alliances are being reinforced and even further fortified.

Policies of ‘containment’ are once again ascendant, perhaps sowing the seeds of a ‘New Cold War’. Globalization and multilateralism were severely undermined by unilateralism and sharpening geo-political tensions.

“The mix of old and new conflicts and disputes is threatening peace and security in different parts of the world. Amidst these complex global dynamics, threats are being magnified by some in order to justify their relentless arms build-ups and hegemonic designs,” said Qureshi without naming India.

Turning to China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the foreign minister said this was a hallmark of Pakistan’s all-weather strategic cooperative partnership with China — is the quintessential connectivity project. Besides contributing to Pakistan’s economic turnaround, CPEC is poised to contribute to regional prosperity.

“Pakistan offers the shortest route to international seas to the western parts of China, and to the Central Asian Republics, through the Karachi and Gwadar ports”, he explained.

While the extended troika meeting on Afghan peace process is underway in Moscow, the foreign minister said Pakistan’s constructive engagement and positive contributions to the Afghan peace process facilitated the US-Taliban Peace Agreement and the commencement of Intra-Afghan negotiations – a fact duly recognized by the international community.

“It is imperative for the Afghan parties to seize this historic opportunity and work together to secure an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive political settlement. Pakistan will continue to support this noble goal as we go forward”, he said.