India, Pakistan can coexist peacefully: Qureshi

Minister says it’s impossible to silence people of IOK in the current age of social media

MULTAN: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday stressed the need for peaceful coexistence between India and Pakistan.

"India is geographically linked with Pakistan through a common border, weather conditions, culture, language and rivers," the minister said at an event organised at the Multan Press Club.

“India and Pakistan can coexist peacefully as good neighbours and move forward to resolve all their issues including Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek, water, trade and terrorism,” he added.

Qureshi reiterated the need for resuming talks between the two countries.

“War always brings destruction and cannot be considered an option, particularly when both countries are armed with nuclear weapons,” he remarked.

The minister observed that Indian-occupied Kashmir was burning and India was trying to suppress the voice of its people through its military presence of 700,000 soldiers and its black laws.

However, he added, it would not be possible to silence the Kashmiris in the current age of social media.

Qureshi said even Kashmiri leaders, who had been forming governments in the Indian-occupied Kashmir including Mehbooba Mufti, Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, had advocated dialogue between the two countries and spoken against repealing Article 370 and 35-A.



Qureshi said Indian Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj had conceded that nobody was killed in the so-called Indian air strike in Balakot.

“The statement proves that Pakistan was right and has exposed India’s lies before the world,” he added.

The minister also condemned the recent terror attacks in Balochistan. However, he said he would not level any allegations without the findings of investigations.

“That is the difference between responsible and irresponsible behavior,” he added.

Qureshi said the Indian media had created war hype after the Pulwama attack in an irresponsible manner while the Pakistani media had responded maturely.

On the recent federal cabinet reshuffle, he said it was the prerogative of Prime Minister Imran Khan to choose his team and it was a common practice in democracies.

“The economic challenges faced by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government were the worst in the last seven decades,” he maintained.

“The PTI government took steps to stabilise and improve the economy and the country’s macroeconomic indicators are now showing continuity.”

The minister said the previous government of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had left an economic black hole of $19 billion.

“Politicians need to start telling the truth to the people. The government is facing challenges on internal and external fronts and there were forces out there who want Pakistan to remain impoverished, and push it on the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) black list.”