India Will Have to Revisit Pak-policy Soon: Qureshi
Clearly referring to New Delhi’s stand not to resume composite dialogue with Pakistan till concrete actions are taken against terrorism, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has expressed confidence that India will have to revisit its Pak-policy very soon, said media reports.
“I am of the view that Pakistan has been willing to engage, and I am confident as – you know, two years down the line, I am confident of this relationship”.
“I am confident that India will have to revisit its policy and very soon,” Qureshi was quoted as saying while talking to reporters at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department.
He made the remarks while responding to queries at a joint press conference with his US counterpart Hillary Clinton after the US-Pak Strategic Dialogue.
“You see, in the discussions that we have had, we underscored the importance of reviving the bilateral track.
The last few years, the bilateral track was subsumed because of the Afghan situation understandably so.”
“We have now refocused on the bilateral track, and that means that our relationship goes beyond Afghanistan. And it has been discussed that the long-term US interests lie east of Afghanistan. That is to be understood,” he was quoted as saying.
“As far as India is concerned, you know, they are a sovereign country, and they have bilateral relations (with the US). We respect that. But all we are saying that those relations should not be at the cost of Pakistan, and we are very clear and I think you’re (Clinton) very clear on that,” the Foreign Minister was quoted as saying.
Earlier, Qureshi said that there was a complete change in perception about Pakistan in the US now, both among the lawmakers and the officials, reports said.
“I was at the Hill yesterday. The mood was completely different. I say it publicly. I was at the Senate, I was at the House. It’s a 180-degree difference. You know, we have turned the corner. And today, there was confidence. There were no question marks. There was no suspicion. There was no ‘Do more’. There was recognition of what we already had done. There was appreciation of what we had already done,” Qureshi was quoted as saying.
