KABUL, Jan 7: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Wednesday he was disappointed by the Indian prime minister’s statement, adding that it would be difficult for the two countries to cooperate amid finger-pointing.

Mr Qureshi, who is accompanying President Asif Ali Zardari to Afghanistan, said at a press conference that “Indian politicians have fallen prey to Mumbai (attacks)”.

He said Pakistan had condemned the Mumbai attacks and offered joint investigations to bring the perpetrators to justice. “If we have to get to the bottom (of this), we have to cooperate and have to keep the communication channels open. How can we cooperate when we start pointing fingers.”

Mr Qureshi said he was disappointed by Dr Manmohan Singh’s statement because he considered the Indian prime minister to be “a visionary and a seasoned politician”. He said the Mumbai incident should not be allowed to overshadow bilateral relations.

Reminding that Indian authorities had earlier absolved the Pakistan government and the state of involvement in the Mumbai attacks, he said the Indians were not being ‘far’.

When asked why had Pakistan shifted its troops from western to eastern borders, he said: “If we want stability in Pakistan, the western border is very important … we want to remain engaged on (our) western border.” Mr Qureshi said Pakistan “wants to honour all its commitments as a responsible country and it understands its national obligations”.

He said operations in Fata were focussed and there was no question of moving away from the western border. “Pakistan does not want war … it desires a cooperative environment and good neighbourly relations … But if war is imposed, Pakistan will fight back with full conviction and … no sane person wants war.”

Ruling out any militarydisconnect, he said: “We have excellent working relationship and speak with one voice.”

Mr Qureshi supported the setting up of several working groups to identify feasible projects for consideration by the regional conference on Afghanistan to be held in Islamabad in April this year.

He acknowledged European Union’s offer to host an expertmeeting in Brussels and said Pakistan supported all international initiatives in Afghanistan.

He said that since the assumption of power by the democratic government, Pakistan and Afghanistan had moved from suspicions and fingerpointing to a relationship based on trust and confidence.

He said Pakistan was in favour of a peaceful and stable Afghanistan, and wanted the relations to grow.

He termed the mini-jirga in Islamabad a success and said it was a useful instrument of dialogue and should be used to engage parties at all levels.

He said there was unanimity of views between President Zardari and President Karzai, adding that Pakistan and Afghanistan had also agreed on the need to eliminate narcotics trafficking because narcowas contributing to extremism and terrorism.

Mr Qureshi said the Inter Services Intelligence “is an important national institution” whose role in the war against terror was being recognised the world over. “The contribution of ISI should not be overlooked.”

—APP