Qureshi The Pitch Again for Pakistan : claims ticking off UAE
Dated : 22 Dec 2020 (IST)
Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the Foreign Minister of Pakistan has again gone and shot off his mouth. On Monday, he had presented Pakistan’s stance on Israel to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) foreign minister. He claims that he categorically told his UAE counterpart that Pakistan will not and can not establish a relationship with Israel until a concrete and permanent solution is found to the Palestine issue.
Qureshi was speaking to reporters in Multan after processions for the Urs of Hazrat Shah Rukn-i-Alam just a day after his visit to the UAE where he held high-level talks with the Emirati leadership.
During his visit, Qureshi said he had “heard and understood why the UAE took the steps it did to recognise Israel but presented Pakistan’s stance on the issue very clearly”.
“Pakistan in any situation cannot establish relations with Israel until a concrete and permanent solution is found to the problem of Palestine,” said Qureshi.
The foreign minister said he explained to his UAE counterpart the depth of emotions and feelings the Pakistani nation had on the issues of Palestine and Kashmir. Quereshi has then gone ahead to claim that the UAE foreign minister “completely understood” these feelings of the Pakistani nation.
Qureshi was questioned by reporters on whether there was any pressure on Pakistan to recognise Israel to which he answered: “The prime minister has said this, I have clarified it and the Foreign Office (FO) has given a statement on this, there is no pressure by anyone on us.”
“Number one, there will be no pressure on us nor there is. Number two, we have to make decisions keeping in mind Pakistan’s interests and not due to any pressure. We have a policy and we are still steadfast on it.”
Qureshi has also “ clarified “ that neither the UAE nor Saudi Arabia had any intention of making “India a replacement for Pakistan”, adding that it was India’s “misunderstanding” if it wished to make efforts towards that end. Well soon the world will come to know if Saudi Arabia and UAE gave him the authority to speak like this on their behalf.
Talks with his counterpart progressed according to his general expectations, Qureshi said, and he was reassured that the visa issue is a temporary one and will soon be cleared away.
Qureshi said a number of other issues concerning bilateral relations and how they could be further strengthened were discussed. He said he had also apprised the UAE foreign minister on developments on the intra-Afghan peace process — including the talks with the recent Taliban delegation at the FO.
The foreign minister also addressed recent revelations about information of a planned Indian surgical strike while he was in Abu Dhabi. He said he “immediately made the decision without wasting the opportunity” to hold a press conference where international media outlets were present to “send India a clear message”.
He warned India from going forward with their “reckless action” of an alleged false-flag operation. Otherwise, he warned, Pakistan will give an “immediate and effective response”. Though he failed to reply as to why even after two surgical strikes there has been no response from Pakistan.
“I have mentioned that any response of ours will be immediate and if the Afghan peace process is affected and the peace of the region is affected, then India will be [held] responsible for it,” said Qureshi. He urged the UN and United Nations Security Council to notice when a state with atomic power acts irresponsibly and tries to thrust the world into crisis.
“India’s real face has been uncovered through the dossier and the Indian Chronicles,” said Qureshi, referring to the recent report by the EU DisinfoLab on the wide ranging Indian disinformation network. The dossier “with irrefutable evidence that India is sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan” had been shared with the international community and authorities, said Qureshi.
Mr Qureshi, only the radicals may support your grants and even Taliban is becoming weary of your Government.
