Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi Thursday said that Prime Minister Imran Khan's statement was 'taken out of context' in which he was attributed to have said that 'there may be better chances of peace talks if Modi's BJP wins India's election.' Qureshi was responding to the concerns expressed by various senators during a meeting of Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs. He also stated that he would also convey the concerns of the parliamentarians to the Prime Minister who want that there should be a formal contradiction by the PM House.
The senators including chairman of the committee Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Sherry Rehman, Rehman Malik, Sitara Ayaz and Javed Abbasi questioned the prime minister's statement, saying that on the one hand the foreign minister is claiming to have 'credible intelligence' that India can resort to another misadventure from April 16 to 20, while on the other the prime minister is hopeful for a better chance of peace talks if Modi's BJP wins the Indian elections. Responding to the senators' concerns, Qureshi said that their reservations will be conveyed to the prime minister, adding that media, especially the international media, is fond of sensationalism and the prime minister was quoted out of context. He further said that Prime Minister Khan's opinion about Modi is on the record.
He said that it is India's internal matter whoever the Indian people want to elect. "We have to engage with them, whether it is BJP or the Congress, there is a little difference in their approach [towards Pakistan]," he added. Qureshi also reiterated that India could resort to another aggression against Pakistan, adding that 'We have to remain vigilant till May 23 till completion of the election process in India.'
"My statement is based on 'credible intelligence' and it has nothing to do with politics. If India makes another mistake, it would be responded with the same force as was given on February 27," he said, adding that Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua had briefed the ambassadors of P-5 countries on the Indian threats prior to his presser. During an interview with foreign journalists earlier this week, Prime Minister Khan was attributed to have said that Pakistan and India have a better chance of peace talks if Narendra Modi is reelected as the Prime Minister in India.
"Perhaps if the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] wins, some kind of settlement in Kashmir could be reached," the international media quoted Prime Minister Khan as having said. "How could a prime minister make such statements on the public domain?" asked Sherry Rehman, adding that Modi's past deeds in Gujrat, his aggressiveness against Pakistan and the state of minorities during his current tenure is what everybody knows about Modi.
Responding to another query, the foreign minister stated in categorical terms that Pakistan had shot down two Indian jets on February 27 and captured only one Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman on February 27. Qureshi rejected the claims by certain quarters that an Israeli pilot along with Abhinandan was also taken into custody when Pakistan Air Force (PAF) shot down two Indian jets, saying that these were 'rumours' and that 'the ambiguity should also come to an end now.'
When the senators pointed out that DG ISPR had mentioned in his presser about the arrest of two pilots, the foreign minister stated: "It was misunderstanding." Senator Mushahidullah Khan claimed that the release of Abhinandan was first announced by Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa before it was announced by Prime Minister Khan in the Parliament.
Qureshi, however, rejected it, saying that it was the decision of the prime minister and he announced himself to release the Indian pilot as peace gesture, adding that the decision was broadly appreciated by the international community. About the India's 'dossier' handed over to Pakistan after Pulwama attack, the foreign minister stated that the information provided by Indian side was just a 'joke' and there was nothing new in it. "It [dossier] was like 'Jab Tak Rahega Samose Mein Aaloo, Tab Tak Rehega Leader Hamra Lalu", Qureshi remarked while describing India's 'dossier' with a song from Indian film 'Khiladi' and former chief minister of India's Bihar state Lalu Prasad Yadav.
The committee passed a resolution, moved by Senator Rehman Malik, condemning the proposed amendments in Indian Constitution aimed at changing the demographic status of Indian Occupied Kashmir. It condemned the proposed changes to the special status of IOK in the election manifesto of BJP and proposed deletion of Articles 370 and 35A. The committee also discussed matters of providing relief to Pakistani people in jails in the UAE and other countries and the matters of Pakistani embassies' role at international conferences.
The committee recommended setting up a 'Public Diplomacy Office' and providing it a transparently administered fund to improve the diplomacy role of Pakistani missions abroad in promoting Pakistan's image.
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