Tension easing, says Qureshi: Kashmir policy unchanged

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MULTAN, Jan 4: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Sunday it would not be correct to say that tensions between India and Pakistan had been fully defused, but the situation was improving.

Talking to reporters on arrival here, he said that after the Mumbai terror attacks Pakistan had stood by its principles and there had been no change in the Kashmir policy.He said Pakistan had taken three immediate measures after the Mumbai attacks – to avert war risks, to ensure that the country was not isolated in the international community and to maintain from internal stability. The policy, he claimed, had achieved the objectives.

Answering a question, he said he was not aware of the information that President Asif Zardari might have about Benazir Bhutto’s assassination.

He said the government was determined to expose the hands which were behaved the great tragedy through the United Nations and the nation should be patient because the case had been taken the world body.

He condemned the Israeli attack on Gaza and said that the issue should be resolved through dialogue after a ceasefire.

He said the Muslim Ummah should adopt a strong stand against the Israeli attacks.

Pakistan has expressed its stand at the United Nations and a resolution was under discussion in the Security Council.

Terrorism, he said, was an international phenomenon and not confined to Pakistan and India. Concrete measures need to be taken to ensure that incidents like the Mumbai attacks do not take place in Pakistan or any other part of the region.

He said that foreign policy changes were not made overnight. Pakistan is keen to maintain friendly ties with China and Iran and also with Indian for the sake of stability in the region.

He said that thermal generation was being upgraded to overcome the power crisis and positive results were expected within days. Talks were in progress for Chinese investments in hydel power sector.

He said that Pakistan had signed an agreement with Iran under which Gwadar would get 100 megawatts of electricity and Quetta ad suburbs another 1,000 MW.

He said there were a number of sites for construction of dams like the Ghazi Brotha project which was initiated by Benazir Bhutto.

He said the government was striving to provide relief to the people. Without addressing internal issues, he added, it would not be possible to achieve stability.

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