MULTAN, March 14: Former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said the US should submit proof in the court if there is any truth in its claim about diplomatic immunity for Raymond Davis.

Speaking to members of the Lahore High Court Bar, Multan Bench, here on Monday, Qureshi said people who came to rescue Davis and crushed a motorcyclist in the process fled from Pakistan. He said there was a need to identify the people who helped the American killers flee from Pakistan.

“It is my stand that Davis dose not enjoy immunity and I took this stand after a briefing from senior officers of the Foreign Office,” he said. He said the US demand for Davis’s release was not justified, as he was facing a criminal case and the matter was in the court. He said the case of the motorcyclist who was crushed to death by a US consulate vehicle was not being highlighted despite the fact that the vehicle had been identified. He asked the court to take notice of this issue and call explanation from the authorities about the vehicle and the people who helped the killers flee from Pakistan.

The former FM said it was an important question that why Davis was not cooperating with the court and what was Pakistan’s stand on this particular issue. “I do not believe in blame game, however I will talk about the issue at a suitable time,” he said. He said Pakistan’s economic affairs were going against people’s interests and the talks between the International Monetary Fund and Pakistani authorities resulted in extra burden on the masses. He said foreign investors were reluctant to invest in Pakistan because of security concerns and national tax collection was unsatisfactory. “The country is facing the problem of flight of resources and this problem is worse than the problem of flight of capital,” he said.

Qureshi said Pakistanis were facing problems in getting jobs abroad, while Indians were getting jobs without any difficulty. He said Pakistan’s industry was facing challenges because of energy crisis and farmers were facing water shortage.

He said the politics of confrontation had replaced the politics of reconciliation. He said the situation in Balochistan did not change even after passage of the 18th Amendment and consensus approval of the NFC Award. He said separation of the MQM from the Sindh government would once again widen the gap between rural and urban Sindh. He said a 1990-like situation had been created in Punjab and there was a need to act upon the Charter of Democracy that was signed by Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif.