News Analysis |
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi met with the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres one-on-one and urged him to resolve the Kashmir conflict according to the aspirations of Kashmiri people and UN resolution. He shed light on the human rights violations being committed by India troops in the Occupied territory.
He also discussed with the World Body Chief the first-ever report on Kashmir by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and called for an international probe. He expressed Pakistan’s desire for a peaceful Afghanistan and the Secretary-General termed Pakistan as the privileged member of the United Nations and appreciated its lead role as top troop contributor in peacekeeping missions across the world.
The Foreign Minister has been quite busy on his tour to New York while attending the United Nations General Assembly session. While talking to Al Jazeera, Mr. Qureshi highlighted the contours of Pakistan foreign policy with the United States and India. He urged for the friendly relations between Pakistan and United States of America but at the same time mentioned that the U.S is looking for new friends in the region.
The FM may also bring up the issue of Indian support to terrorists attacking Pakistan and bring up the case of Kulbhushan Yadav, a serving Indian intelligence officer arrested by Pakistan in its territory.
He was pointing at the recent warmth at the relations between the United States and India where the former has termed latter as the front line ally in Afghanistan. The foreign minister said that the other states recognize how important and how strategically located Pakistan is. “So, we are not alone and everyone has options,” he said.
While trying to balance the foreign policy of the country, it is very important for Pakistan not to completely isolate itself from the United States. It is a positive sign that Mr. Qureshi realizes that when he acknowledged that the United States is going to be a global leader in terms of economy and Technology and we intend to keep cordial relations with the country.
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Responding to a question of Pakistan’s support for the Taliban, Shah Mahmood Qureshi gave a bit of a history lesson. Who were these people? Who supported them? Who trained them? We forget history and at times we overlook that friends change. People that you support, some of the people, were called extremists. Weren’t they invited to the US? Weren’t they entertained in the White House? So, friends change. Circumstances change. We were just defending and protecting ourselves.”
The complete picture has been missing for so long that the world has now entirely believed the one-sided version of the picture which is being bombarded by the western media. While it was, of course, the failure of Pakistan foreign office to effectively represent its case, however, with Financial Action Task Force’s placing of Pakistan on the grey list for terror financing, there is still a need to present the complete picture to the world.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi met with the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres one-on-one and urged him to resolve the Kashmir conflict according to the aspirations of Kashmiri people and UN resolution.
Pakistan’s stance about relations with India has always been a calculated and rational irrespective of the hawkishness from the other side. “Two neighbors have outstanding issues and are atomic powers. How do you fix things? War is no option. There is no military solution. The only solution is dialogue”, he said on the question about Pakistan’s policy toward India.
It should be the focus of our foreign office to highlight the staunch difference to the world between the approach of Pakistan and India where one side is calling for dialogue and peaceful resolution of the dispute and other side is calling for war. So far the diplomatic mission of Pakistan in New York has been on the right course. The Foreign Minister has been very active.
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However, Pakistan is in a dire need of a robust approach to clear the fallacies and present a clear, positive image of the country. It is very important for Pakistani consulates all over the world and in the global north in particular, where it matters the most, to undergo an active PR campaign depicting the positive image of Pakistan. FM Qureshi is anticipated to give his speech in the UNGA today.
The Kashmir issue is to be the major portion of his speech as the crux of Pak-India ties revolves around the disputed territory. This was apparent in the meeting between FM Qureshi and the UN Secretary General. Another major part of his speech is expected to revolve around the scourge of terror inflicting Pakistan which emanates from US-occupied Afghanistan. The FM may also bring up the issue of Indian support to terrorists attacking Pakistan and bring up the case of Kulbhushan Yadav, a serving Indian intelligence officer arrested by Pakistan in its territory.