Slams Indian FM remarks on Pakistan
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi wondered that if the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has decided to “sacrifice” Shahbaz Sharif, what can they do about it. “Respect the decision of the court and conduct the election and do not sacrifice before Eidul Adha,” he said.
While talking to media persons, he said that after Allah, the Constitution is supreme, but lamented that it is being mocked and not being implemented. “If the constitution is implemented, no crisis can arise; Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) neither looks at the Constitution nor traditions for their purposes,” he claimed.
He added that PDM is not coming to any conclusion, as they want to “run away” from the election. “Maulana Fazlur Rahman was against the negotiations from the first day and despite Bilawal’s efforts, he was not willing to negotiate,” he pointed out. “Similarly, there is a clear division in the PML-N regarding negotiations; Ishaq Dar has the clear confidence of Nawaz Sharif while the behavior of Khawaja Asif and other ministers is in front of the nation.”
The PTI leader said that in the negotiations with PDM, PTI had agreed on elections in the country through a single-day caretaker setup. “But when Nawaz Sharif said we do not accept the decision of 3-2; if the four will accept the decision of the three, then we have separated from the negotiations,” he added. He also said that when negotiating with someone, the environment is made conducive. Before the second sit-in, 33 PTI workers were arrested, he added.
He further said that he spoke to finance and interior ministers in this regard. He strongly condemned Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar’s statement after the departure of Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, stating that it was against diplomatic etiquette to ridicule the Pakistani foreign minister. “Although I disagree with Bilawal, I am talking about the foreign minister of Pakistan,” he said while speaking to the media in Multan. “Bilawal Bhutto went there on the invitation of the Indian foreign minister and Pakistan is a member of this forum; Bilawal was his guest, but he ridiculed the Pakistani foreign minister.”
His behaviour was against diplomatic etiquette as he linked Pakistan with terrorism, Qureshi said. “What justification did you have to link Pakistan with terrorism and call yourself a victim?” he asked. “There was no justification for it; this may be his own thinking, but it is not; not only Pakistan but also Kashmiris condemned the statement of the Indian foreign minister,” he remarked.
“Bilawal went there because of SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation), Iran also participated for the first time,” he pointed out. “Before Bilawal goes to India, there is a debate about whether he should go there or not; there is Hindutva thinking there, so it is useless to go there, while the second thought was that we are members and should go there for better relations; we went there.”
“Our experienced diplomats should have given Bilawal advice on what should his reaction be if they would raise bilateral issues on the platform of SCO,” he added. “Mr Jaishankar, you are hiding your eyes from the facts,” he slammed the Indian FM, adding that as a result of terrorism, Pakistan has lost more than 80,000 people and billions of dollars. “Before pointing fingers at Pakistan, you have to look within yourself; you have to look at your neck,” he added.—INP
