Qureshi returns to Kashmir rant in UK TV interview; then asks 'Is India ready to talk?'

Qureshi was speaking in an interview with Sky News. He was quizzed by journalist Dominic Waghorn on World view, whether Pakistan had plans to liberate Kashmir.

Pakistani Minister of Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi (Photo by GEORGES GOBET / AFP)

New Delhi: Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Wednesday that Pakistan government is ready for talks with India, but questioned India’s willingness for the same. Qureshi was speaking in an interview with Sky News. He was asked by journalist Dominic Waghorn on World view, whether Pakistan had plans to liberate Kashmir. “Qureshi said that Prime Minister (Imran Khan) is saying wake up. The situation there (Kashmir) is deteriorating. And it is not just the PM, - the UN- and the All-Parties Parliamentary Group constituted by the House of Commons are all saying that; voices in India are talking about how they’re losing, how they’re alienating Kashmiris and that it is a lost cause. So this voice is growing all over.” The interviewer quizzed Qureshi by saying that many (Kashmiris) do not want freedom on Pakistani terms, to which Qureshi said: “Fine, let us have a plebiscite. Let the people decide. That is a commitment, that’s a commitment by India as part of the UN agenda. Give the people the right to self-determination, and whatever they decide, Pakistan will accept.” The journalist said that the back and forth between Pakistan and India had continued “for decades” and asked why both the parties “won’t sit down in the spirit of friendliness”. Qureshi said: “Through your programme, I'm telling the Indians 'Let's sit and talk'. I'm ready. Are they?" Pakistan, which provides safe haven to terrorists on its soil, has been going around raking up the Kashmir issue at international podiums, while India has maintained that Kashmir is an integral part of its territory and the issue is an internal matter of India.  India which is a victim of several terror attacks by Pakistan-based terrorists has made it clear to Pakistan that talks and terror cannot go hand in hand. The ties between India and Pakistan nose-dived in recent years with no bilateral talks taking place. The ties strained after the terror attacks by Pakistan-based groups in 2016, to which India had responded with surgical strikes inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.