Dawn.com :
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said “violence is not the policy of the government” while referring to an attack on Indian security forces in occupied Kashmir on Thursday, in which 44 Indian paramilitary soldiers were killed.
“Violence is not a [strategy] nor it is our government’s policy,” Qureshi said
in a video shared by the PTI Official handle on Twitter on Saturday.
The video was a recording of the foreign minister speaking to GeoNews in Munich, where he has been attending the Munich Security Conference.
Qureshi condemned the bombing and added that he was “a little sad” that, without investigating the incident, India had instantly levelled allegations against Pakistan in a “knee-jerk reaction”. “You can throw the blame at us,” Qureshi said, noting that accusing Pakistan “took one minute”. Qureshi also noted that the world had condemned the incident, “as they should, as lives had been lost”. Qureshi added, however, that the voices coming from within India should also be heard, such as that of former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah, who has said that placing blame on Pakistan was the “easy route” and that Indian authorities should examine its policies in Kashmir. Qureshi also highlighted Indian atrocities in occupied Kashmir, making mention of rampant human rights violations and the near daily funerals. “Is a reaction to that not expected?” Qureshi asked, adding that a reaction to rape of local women and use of pellet guns had to be expected at some point. Qureshi said that he had spoken to various foreign ministers, including to the Russian foreign minister, in Moscow and told them that he had been fearful there would be some “misadventure” for political purposes prior to the election [in India].
Similarly, the minister said that around two months ago, Pakistani officials had briefed P5 (US, China, Russia, UK and France) envoys in Islamabad that they feared something or the other taking place to “distract attention” from the Kashmir issue. He added that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had two options now.
“One is to act like a typical politician and stage his reactions and policy while keeping and eye on the next election. Alternatively, he has the option of being a statesman who thinks about his region, his country’s poverty, the betterment of his country, as well as regional betterment.” Qureshi said it remains to be seen which direction Modi will choose. He said that, instead of hurling accusations at Pakistan, if India had any “actionable evidence” against the country, they should share it with them.
“Share it with us, we will investigate it with integrity and see what the reality is,” Qureshi said while assuring that they would cooperate.
