 |
| |
WEEKLY
SECTIONS |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Qureshi rejects Indian terms for talks |
|
|
|
Monday, April 13, 2009
By Mariana Baabar
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan sent a crystal clear message to India that it would in no way accept any conditions from New Delhi for resuming the composite dialogue. It admits that the country faces a challenge but that it is not collapsing as it is a strong, vibrant country and the people of Pakistan would defend it.
“What we have to understand is there are no conditions and we would not accept conditions. But what I want to tell you is that bringing people to justice, particularly the culprits of Mumbai, is in our mutual interest. Pakistan seriously wants to do it. We want to cooperate with you and we want to move ahead. We cannot do it alone. We can do it collectively. Secondly, you say Pakistan should dismantle the terrorist network. We should do it in our own interest. Not for you but in our own interest and Pakistan has taken very positive steps, which are not being recognized and you are overlooking them. We have arrested some very high-profile people. We have proscribed some very important organisations. We have seized and we have frozen assets. We have taken a number of steps and this is an ongoing process,” Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said while responding to questions during the CNN-IBN’s Devil’s Advocate.
Karan Thapar put the minister in the hot seat, where Qureshi spoke with the Indian media for the first time since the Mumbai attacks.
On India’s role in Afghanistan, Qureshi did not rule out the proposal outright but said, “India is a regional player and I think India can play a positive role, and India should play a positive role. What the Indians are forgetting is that this is a cancer. It will grow, it has no borders, it sees no boundaries, it looks at no nationalities. It will creep all over the region. India should act responsibly. Since I came to Delhi on my first assignment, from day one it has been my endeavour to cultivate good friendly normal relationship with India. Now India is not understanding the challenge. The challenge is not just India-Pakistan. It is a much larger challenge and I think we should all be on board.”
The minister said India had to realise sooner than later that terrorism and extremism were a global phenomenon and it could only be defeated collectively. He added that there had been a lot of exaggeration of the situation in Pakistan.
“It’s a concern. I will not deny that it’s a concern but you also have to understand that let’s not exaggerate things. Swat has been under pressure but there are (only) certain pockets of Swat that are under pressure. The whole of Swat is neither under Taliban control nor is being attacked by them. There are pockets and we will clear those pockets. We have engaged with people because we feel that dialogue is one of the options,” he said.
Qureshi said that the ISI had been cleansed but refused to reply directly whether in the past the ISI had links with al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
“People forget the positive contributions that ISI has made in this fight against extremism and terrorism. Without ISI’s help you could not have apprehended the 700 or so al-Qaeda operatives. ISI has done more than any other organisation. Now we are in the process of restructuring the ISI. The agency has been cleansed. The present leadership of ISI is very clear that this challenge is our challenge,” he said.
He added that Pakistan was pursuing a hands-off policy. “We are pursuing a policy which in our view is in Pakistan’s interest, in the interest of the region and it’s in consonance with our allies. I think the ISI is making a positive contribution and I am of the view that if there are opinions that need to be expressed they should not be done through the media. There are diplomatic channels available and they should be used,” he explained.
“If you are accusing them (ISI), who do you want to cooperate with? Who do you want to work with?” he questioned about the US criticism of the ISI.
On being asked about what Pakistan was doing about suspects of the Mumbai attacks, he said the successful prosecution of people like Lakhvi and Zarar Shah depended on the information that one got from India.
“What we need is evidence, which is legally tenable. There is evidence and there is legally tenable evidence. (That’s) what we require, if we want to prosecute them. Then we want to take a fool-proof case to court so that we can take it to its logical conclusion”.
But Qureshi said he was ignorant as to where Masood Azhar was. To the impatience from India in this regard, the minister urged patience. “Let us not jump the gun. Let us not be impatient. These are very serious and very delicate matters. We have to proceed very carefully. We have to proceed without suspecting each other. Now, if you keep suspecting us, then we will not be able to move forward. What I am trying to convey to you is that let’s drop the suspicion. Let’s join hands and work together in our interest,” he advised.
|
|
|
| Back
| Send
this story to Friend | Print
Version |
|
|
‘Al-Qaeda, Taliban leaders not in Pakistan’
ISLAMABAD: Strongly reacting to some of the reports of the presence of al-Qaeda and Taliban leadership in Pakistan by the US newspapers and some intelligence agencies, President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday said more |
|
|
Mulla Omar in Karachi, claims WT
WASHINGTON: Mulla Muhammed Omar, the leader of the Afghan Taliban, has fled Quetta and found refuge from the potential US attacks in Karachi with the assistance of Pakistan’s intelligence, the Washington Times more |
|
|
Will PM intervene or will robber barons kill CCP?
By Mehtab Haider
ISLAMABAD: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has warned that it will cease to exist and its actions will become invalid in case the government fails to re-promulgate the Competition Ordinance on or b more |
|
|
Eight militants die in US drone attack
By our correspondent
MIRAMSHAH: Eight militants were killed and two others injured when a US drone hit a house in the Michikhel area in North Waziristan on Friday, the second such attack in less than 24 hours.
Tribal sources sai more |
|
|
19 militants killed in SWA, Khyber, Bajaur clashes
By our correspondents
WANA/BARA/KHAR: Nineteen militants were killed in clashes with security forces in South Waziristan, Khyber and Bajaur tribal regions on Friday.
Tribal and officials sources said five militants were kille more |
|
|
|
Pakistan has nothing to fear from India: Singh
WASHINGTON: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said India is ready to resolve all outstanding issues with the country on the condition that it will not allow its territory to be used against its neighbour more |
|
|
|
Qureshi wants result-oriented dialogue with India
MULTAN: Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmud Qureshi said on Friday Pakistan wanted meaningful and result-oriented bilateral negotiations with India.
Addressing a press conference at the airport here, h more |
|
|
|
Only 15 pc believe Pakistan is going right
By Gibran Peshimam
KARACHI: Pakistan’s youths are losing confidence in the future and a mere 15 per cent believe that the country is heading in the right direction, while 72 per cent feel economically worse off than a year ago. O more |
|
|
|
Mustafa Jatoi passes away
ISLAMABAD: Former caretaker prime minister Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi breathed his last at the St Marry Hospital in London on Friday after a protracted illness. He was 78.
He leaves behind six sons and three d more |
|
|
|
Slaughter of animals, NRO beneficiaries begins on Eid
By Muhammad Ahmad Noorani
ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) will soon announce its strategy to deal with the cases which are going to reopen on Nov 28, a NAB spokesman told The News on Friday.
“The NAB chairman more |
|
|
|
WFP, Rescue 15 attacks’ mastermind arrested
By Shakeel Anjum
ISLAMABAD: The Capital Police on Friday arrested the mastermind behind the attacks on the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the Rescue 15 offices in Islamabad.
The terrorist, identified as Jamshed Ahmad more |
|
|
|
Mushahid asks Karzai not to allow use of Afghan land against Pakistan
By our correspondent
ISLAMABAD: Secretary General Pakistan Muslim League-Q Mushahid Hussain Sayed on Friday asked President Hamid Karzai not to allow the use of Afghan land against Pakistan under Indian designs.
“Pakistan wa more |
|
|
|
No Indo-Pak FMs meeting: Nirupama
NEW DELHI: India on Friday said no meeting had been scheduled between foreign ministers of Pakistan and India in Port of Spain later this month on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting ( more |
|
|
|
US to tighten control of Afghan contracts: Gates
HALIFAX: US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Friday that the United States must tighten control of Afghan development contracts as a first step towards stemming rampant corruption.
“The reality is more |
|
|
|
China has stake in Kashmir: Mirwaiz
News Desk
HELD SRINAGAR: As he plans to visit China, Hurriyat Conference leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday kicked up a controversy by saying that Beijing has a “direct link” with the Kashmir issue, drawing strong obje more |
|
|
|
Clinton favours Indo-Pak dialogue on Kashmir
WASHINGTON: The United States is encouraging Pakistan and India to resume their dialogue to address Kashmir and other outstanding disputes but any solution must come from the two countries, Secretary of State H more |
|
|
|
Competition Commission forces PIA to fly fair
By our correspondent
ISLAMABAD: Silent prayers of many Hajis have apparently been answered as the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has ordered PIA to refund within 60 days the excessive fares charged from the passengers, wh more |
|
|
|
Attack on policemen in Peshawar
By Javed Aziz Khan
PESHAWAR: The death toll in the bomb attack on police party in Yakatoot rose to three after a sub-inspector and another cop succumbed to injuries at the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) on Friday as the city mourned more |
|
|
|
‘Musharraf funnelling money to improve image’
ISLAMABAD: Former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf has reportedly funnelled a large amount of money to his former aides in the country in order to improve his image, as he is planning a return to the c more |
|
|
|
Sen Lugar’s wife arrested, charged with drinking, hit-and-run
News Desk
WASHINGTON: The wife of Republican Senator Richard G Lugar was arrested in the suburb of McLean on Wednesday night after crashing into a parked car, and she was charged with drunk driving and hit-and-run, the F more |
|
|
|
briefs...
Bombers kill 23 in Afghanistan
HERAT: Bomb attacks on Friday killed 23 people in Afghanistan, a deadly start to President Hamid Karzai’s second term that underscored spiralling insecurity nine years into more |
|
|
|
ISSN 1563-9479 
