Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has offered initiation of 'conditional' dialogue with New Delhi during an interview with a foreign news agency. He maintained that Pakistan has no objection to holding bilateral talks with India; however any mediator facilitating the process of dialogue would be welcomed.
The minister added that Pakistan has never refuted dialogue, but India has not been showing any sign of it. For holding bilateral talks, he put conditions, including lifting of curfew, restoration of basic human rights, release of all those arbitrarily detained (Hurriyat leadership) and his meeting with the Kashmiris' leadership. Addressing separately at a rally at Umer Kot, Qureshi said Muslims in Kashmir were denied religious freedom on the occasion of Eid. The minister said that while Modi can't stand in Srinagar but he (Qureshi) is standing in front of Hindus in Pakistan.
He said the elected representatives in India were not allowed to enter Occupied Kashmir. He said today's India is negating the philosophy of its founding fathers Gandhi and Nehru while RSS philosophy is dominating. Earlier today, while talking to a private news channel, Qureshi said that announcement of US House Committee on Foreign Affairs to discuss prevailing situation in Occupied Kashmir was 'a major development.'
He said the meeting of the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs would prove to be quite useful regarding the Kashmir dispute. The minister said that overseas Pakistanis particularly the Pak-American community played a key role in internationalising the issue.