KARACHI Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Thursday that Pakistan and India had realised that it was in their advantage to engage each other in dialogue to resolve outstanding disputes. Mr Qureshi was talking to media at a farewell hosted for a Pakistani delegation which is to attend the World Youth Congress in Istanbul.
The minister urged New Delhi to pay attention to Pakistani concerns on the situation in Indian-occupied Kashmir, river waters, Sir Creek and Siachin.
“We can take steps which are permitted in the dialogue framework to restore confidence and narrow down the gulf between the two countries. This will also be in the interest of the region,” said Mr Qureshi.
He said that prime ministers of India and Pakistan had agreed in the Saarc summit in Bhutan to resume dialogue because they saw it as the only way to resolve disputes.
Mr Qureshi reiterated Pakistan's readiness to begin dialogue with India.
He told a questioner that most of the Afghan war stalwarts had left Pakistan because of large-scale operations by Pakistani forces along the border.
In reply to a question about the Afghan Transit Trade agreement, the foreign minister said that the issue had been clarified and there was no mention of India in the agreement. “This is a bilateral agreement between Pakistan and Afghanistan. This confusion should be eliminated now,” he said.
Mr Qureshi said that Pakistan had received $2.2 billion out of the $5.2 billion pledged by the Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FoDP) in Tokyo and the remaining amount would be received by October this year when the FoDP would meet again in Brussels.
He said that the US and Japan had already requested donor countries to pay their contribution before the Brussels meeting.
Mr Qureshi, however, made it clear that the FoDP was not a platform to raise funds. It was a forum to get political and diplomatic support for Pakistan. It was a coincidence that the meetings of FoDP and fund-raising conference were held in Japan at the same time.
The minister, asked about Dr Aafia Siddiqui, said that Pakistan had provided all possible financial, moral and legal support to her. He added, however, that her case was weak and Pakistan was taking every measure for her defence.
