Davis issue should not harm Pak-US relationship: Qureshi

Former foreign minister Pakistan, US must lay the foundations of a durable relationship based on equality.

MULTAN: Former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Saturday that Pakistan and the United States must lay the foundations of a durable relationship based on equality which could not be harmed by any single issue.

While addressing a public meeting at Ghanta Ghar Chowk in Multan, he said that United States must give weight to the numerous sacrifices Pakistan had rendered so far in the fight against terrorism for world peace.

He said that while he was serving the foreign minister, he had told American leaders that Pakistan-US relations tend to ebb and flow over time and that the two countries have to lay the foundation of a durable relationship that can not be harmed by any issue.

He said that after going through provisions of the law, he was of the view that the American demand for diplomatic immunity for Raymond Davis, the American who killed two Pakistanis in Lahore, was not valid.

Referring to the recent statement of US secretary of state Hillary Clinton regarding the relationship between the countries , he questioned: "I want to ask who was responsible for this situation?"

He said that he had no differences with the Pakistan People’s Party or its leadership.