Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Wednesday claimed a 'major achievement' in Prime Minister Imran Khan's recent visits to Tehran and Riyadh in averting an eminent conflict in the Middle East and stated that the two sides have agreed to resolve their differences through dialogue and diplomacy. Speaking at a news conference along with Prime Minister's Special Assistant on Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan, the foreign minister said that both Saudi Arabia and Iran have indicated to resolve their differences peacefully through dialogue and diplomacy. "One thing I can tell you with great satisfaction is that the dark war clouds which were hovering a day ago over the Middle East have now started disappearing due to Pakistan's efforts," Qureshi said, adding that it was the initiative of Prime Minister Imran Khan who himself felt that the region cannot afford yet another conflict that too between Saudi Arabia, which is Pakistan's strategic partner, and Iran, which is a good friendly country and a neighbor.

Asked whether the United States being a part to the conflict in the Middle East was also taken into confidence on the talks with Saudi Arabia and Iran, he said: "With the United States, we are in contact and I can tell is that if President Donald Trump is at present awaiting impatiently to receive any call that is from Prime Minister Imran Khan," Qureshi added.

With Iranian leadership, he said that Prime Minister Khan held talks with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani and their response was 'very much encouraging' as they explained their position that they do not want any conflict with Saudi Arabia and expressed readiness to hold direct talks with the Saudis or through a third party mediation.

Taking the facilitating process forward, he said that Prime Minister along with the delegation visited Saudi Arabia on Sunday and held talks with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and conveyed to them the viewpoint of the Iranian leadership.

"In all our talks, it was agreed upon to try to resolve the disputes through talks peacefully and through diplomacy," he said, adding that on the way forward, a mechanism is being set up for which talks are ongoing.

Asked about the Saudi response to Iran's offer of a direct talk or a third party mediation, Qureshi said: "What I can say at this moment, we found them [Saudis] responsive to give peace a chance and to remain engaged."

To a question about the Yemen conflict, Qureshi, without giving further details, stated: "The prospects of a ceasefire in Yemen are bright today which was not so in the past despite various efforts made by other countries."

Referring to the situation in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the foreign minister said that in talks with both Saudi and Iranian leadership, the Prime Minister also highlighted the grave human rights situation in the held valley after illegal act of 5 August when India revoked special status of Kashmir. He said the Prime Minister also thanked the Saudis and Iranians for supporting Pakistan's stance over Kashmir.

He said that Pakistan is fighting Kashmiris' battle at the international fora and at this critical juncture there should be a unified voice from home and any internal matter may harm this struggle.

He said India restored postpaid mobile service and within 24 hours, it has to suspend its SMS service, which indicates the existence of a grim situation in occupied Kashmir.

Responding to a question on Financial Action Task Force (FATF) ongoing meeting in Paris, he said that Minister for Economic Affairs Hammad Azhar, who is in Paris, is leading Pakistan's side to convince the world about effective steps taken by Islamabad to control terror financing. He expressed hope that India will not succeed in its nefarious designs to get Pakistan blacklisted with the FATF.

PTI CORE COMMITTEE MEETING

Qureshi, who is also vice chairman of PTI, stated that Prime Minister Imran Khan in his capacity as the chairman of the party chaired a meeting of the PTI's core committee on the prevailing political situation and decided to constitute a committee headed by Defense Minister Pervez Khattak to reach out to JUI-F chief Mualana Fazlur Rehman.

"We are a political party and are fully capable and willing to deliver a political solution to political matters," he said, adding if anything the JUI-F chief says during the talks 'has political weight,' PTI is ready to listen to it. "If a reasonable solution emerges, we will accord that priority with a view to resolving the political issues," he said.

Rejecting the JUI-F chief's demand of an early election and resignation of Prime Minister Imran Khan, Qureshi said the country cannot afford yet another election in a short span of one year, adding that it was not in favor of the country, which has started coming out of the economic crisis, to have chaos.

Secondly, he added, the government has decided to mark October 27 as 'black day' as it was the day when India started occupation of the Jammu and Kashmir by deploying its troops.

He also made it clear that the government is not in any fear to offer the dialogue to the opposition. "It is not that we have any fear, I must clarify this...If someone thinks that with a dharna, governments can be sent packing then we have a 126-day experience in this," he added.

He reiterated that a political solution to the conflict must be sought, explaining that Pakistan is now fighting for the Kashmir cause on international fora and a unified stance needs to be presented before the world.

He said that another consideration is that the government has just overcome a great economic challenge over the past 13 months and brought Pakistan's economy back to the track.

He further said the core committee also decided to hold local government elections in the provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, adding that the first phase will start in February 2020.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019