Pakistan foreign minister seeks US help for talks with India, gets rejected

While addressing an audience in Washington, Qureshi tried to portray that disengagement between the countries is because of India's stance and it can lead to an escalation of tension.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (R) meets with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi at the US State Department in Washington, DC on October 2, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS

New Delhi: A day after holding talks with United States’ Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor John Bolton, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that Pakistan sought the help of US in facilitating its talks with India but was turned down by the Trump administration. While addressing an audience in Washington, Qureshi warned that an absence of dialogue could lead to the aggravation of the tension. He said he raised the issue with the top US officials but it was rejected by them. Qureshi was quoted by news agency PTI as saying: “When we asked the US, to play facilitating role...Why do we ask? Simply because we are not engaging bilaterally. And that bilateral disengagement is a distraction. We want to focus, we want to move on the western side of the border, which we are not being able to because we have to watch our back from eastern side (of the border with India). That is not a healthy situation to be in.” India is against any third party mediation in its relation with Pakistan but the Katter has continuously sought mediation to sort out the differences including over Kashmir. Qureshi was quoted as saying: “Now can you (United States) facilitate? The answer from them is no. They wanted bilaterally. But there is no bilateral movement.” He referred to the last minute cancellation of the proposed meeting between him and Sushma Swaraj by India that was supposed to take place on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly in New York and alleged that India backed off from engaging but the new Imran Khan government is not shy of engaging. Qureshi’s attack was clearly a one-sided picture of the situation as he quickly skipped India’s reason for the cancellation of the meeting which is, the release of postage stamps glorifying terrorist Burhan Wani and brutal killing of Indian security personnel. Trying to paint a picture with India as the party unwilling for dialogue, Qureshi said that if India has a better option, then it should share it with Pakistan and that it is unfortunate that the two countries are not engaging. He recalled Imran Khan’s first speech after coming to power where he said that ‘Pakistan will take two steps towards peace if India takes one’. Qureshi said when the Khan said that he meant it and it wasn’t to please anyone. (with inputs from PTI)