ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi urged the Indian government to focus more on its domestic concerns instead of "behaving like an expansionist nation". The minister said this in his Tweet on Sunday.

He said, "It would serve PM Modi's government and 'neighbourhood first' policy well to realise India's neighbours pose far less of a problem than their own domestic inadequacies, failures and fascism."

Qureshi called for "necessary introspection" by the Indian government, saying it might help it serve India's minorities and downtrodden better. The minister urged for a shift in focus away from "igniting border disputes with every neighbour".

Shah Mahmood Qureshi's comments come days after the Indian Ministry of External Affairs rejected Prime Minister Imran Khan's offer to assist India with cash disbursement among citizens in the country who were hit hard by the coronavirus lockdown.

"Pakistan would do well to recall that they have a debt problem, which covers 90 percent of their GDP. As far as India goes, our stimulus package is as large as the GDP of Pakistan," said MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava, in a scathing reply.

The recent verbal sparring between the two countries comes against the back-drop of tensions between India and China, and the prevalent contentions between India and Pakistan over the issue of Indian-occupied Kashmir.

Meanwhile, presiding over a meeting of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad on Sunday, Qureshi said that the coronavirus pandemic had changed the world.

The meeting was held in relation with the use of modern technology, and Qureshi observed that Pakistan would have to formulate a line of action going forward. Meetings across the world are being held virtually through video links, he said. Qureshi also welcomed suggestions from representatives of telecom companies who were present at the meeting.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020

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