FM Qureshi lashes out at Afghan NSA over demeaning remarks against Pakistan

Published June 5, 2021
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi addresses a political gathering in Multan. — DawnNewsTV
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi addresses a political gathering in Multan. — DawnNewsTV

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Saturday hit out at Afghan National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib for his comments against Pakistan and called on him to "reflect and correct" his behaviour.

Addressing a gathering of political workers in Multan, Qureshi said: "The national security adviser of Afghanistan carefully listen to me ... as the foreign minister of Pakistan I say that no Pakistani will shake your hand or talk with you if you don't desist from the kind of language you are using or the accusations you're making against Pakistan."

Qureshi said Pakistan had suffered a "huge cost" in terms of lives lost and financial consequences from terrorism, adding that Pakistan was only concerned with peace and stability in the region.

The foreign minister was responding to comments made by the Afghan national security adviser during a visit to Nangarhar province earlier in May, during which he called Pakistan a "brothel house", according to a Voice of America report.

The report said Mohib routinely accuses Pakistan of providing support and planning to the Afghan Taliban.

Qureshi noted that Pakistani officials from the prime minister to the army chief to the foreign minister had visited Kabul for peace yet the NSA had still likened Pakistan to a "brothel house".

"You should be ashamed and you should be guilty at your words and my blood is boiling ever since your speech in Nangarhar.

"Correct your behaviour and reflect on it. I say this to the international community that if this behaviour continues, then this person, who calls himself the national security adviser of Afghanistan, will actually be playing the role of a spoiler [for peace]."

He added that the Afghan NSA was creating obstacles on Afghanistan's road towards peace and trying to worsen the situation instead of improving it. "Therefore, the Afghan nation and the wise citizens of Afghanistan, who wish for peace, should urge him to reflect on his behaviour because it is not correct."

'Will invite FMs of Muslim states to Pakistan'

Qureshi said he would invite foreign ministers of Muslim nations to Islamabad in March 2022 to propagate the Kashmir issue and present the case of Kashmiris to them.

He said while presenting Palestine's case at the United Nations, he had been reminded of Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK) and the similarities in the demands of the people in Palestine and IoK.

"I am promising you that the way I fought the case of Palestinians, if God grants me time, then in March 2022 I will invite the foreign ministers of the Islamic world to Islamabad and try to rally them on the Kashmir issue.

"The case of Kashmiris, which is based on truth and justice, will be presented to them," said the foreign minister.

FM Qureshi also expressed his gratitude to the National Assembly and the Senate for passing unanimous resolutions that showed the "nation was one on the issues of Palestine and Kashmir".

The Senate resolution, passed last week, had condemned Israel's "war crimes" in Palestine and called upon the international community to take "immediate, effective and concrete steps" to save the Palestinians from the "fascist Israeli war machine".

"The Senate of Pakistan is clear that Palestine is facing nothing less than genocide, massacre and ethnic cleansing," the text of the resolution had read. "Israel is an apartheid state and guilty of war crimes and settler colonialism."

'Diplomatic success'

Hailing Pakistan's efforts for the Palestinian cause at the UN, Qureshi claimed that Pakistan's promotion of the issue had yielded success in stopping the "oppression on Muslims".

He added that another "diplomatic success" was attained when the UN Human Rights Council adopted the Pakistan-sponsored resolution on behalf of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and decided to create an inquiry commission into systematic abuses in the Palestinian territories and inside Israel.

Qureshi also addressed his interview with CNN that spurred accusations of anti-Semitism against him. "When the pro-Israel lobby tried to attack me, every child capable of using social media in Pakistan rose to my defence," the foreign minister said.

"A voice came from the whole ummah that this accusation of anti-Semitism is not correct and people defended Multan's lawyer with facts and figures. This is a big honour from God that I didn't have to defend myself."

The foreign minister claimed that a "planned" attempt was made in the CNN interview to pressurise him.

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