Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that there exists complete harmony among all stake holders in the country with regard to the settlement of bilateral disputes between India and Pakistan, but said the other side is divided. Talking to a private television channel, the minister said if the other side makes futuristic analysis of the conditions on ground, possibility for resumption of composite dialogue is very much there.
He said that in his opinion, it is the track-1 diplomacy that brings results. He said when the two channels (track-1 and track-2) move ahead side by side, the results would be positive. Foreign Minister said Pakistan has strong moral position on all disputes with India and the entire world is in conformity with this fact.
He said Pakistan is ready to take action against the Mumbai attacks culprits but it can be done on the basis of solid evidence only. "We have collected some evidence and 7 accused are being prosecuted. They have been issued the charge sheet", he informed. He said the information provided by India, regarding Hafiz Saeed, was insufficient so the court gave him relief.
Qureshi said Pakistan wants that its land is not used for terrorism against any country, including India and Afghanistan. "We want good relations with (our) neighbours and we have made good progress in this regard", he added. He said every country has to maintain relations with others, keeping its interest in sight.
He observed that Pakistan has a long history of relations with the US, which has seen ups and downs over the years, adding that relations between the nations are guided by their national interests. Presently, the depth of mutual relations between Pakistan and United States are based on a common objective ie fighting extremism and terrorism, he said.
To a question, the minister said that it is not necessary that two friends have unanimity of opinion on all issues. Some times, their priorities are different but the countries always maintain relations with others by protecting their national interests, he said.
He said that American focus is the western borders but Pakistan's position is that it cannot pay full attention to the Western border, until its eastern borders are fully protected. Qureshi said that the US is aware of the importance of solution of disputes between India and Pakistan but when asked to play a role, they hesitate due to their personal interests with India.
To another question the minister said the US has long term interests with Pakistan and there is no question that they would ever think about destabilising the country. He said the responsible US authorities are satisfied with the security arrangement for Pakistan's nuclear assets, and that the occasional media reports in this regard are speculated and baseless. At present, he said, the Americans are satisfied with Pakistan's role in war in terror than they were during the previous regime.
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