LAHORE, May 5: Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri claimed on Monday Pakistan was no longer isolated diplomatically due to its adherence to principled stand on all external policy issues.
He was speaking at a session on “Imperatives of peace in South Asia,” organized by the Pakistan National Forum (PNF) at a local hotel on Monday afternoon.
He said since 9/11, Pakistan had been facing many foreign policy challenges, but it had tackled them successfully and its adversaries had failed to destabilize and isolate it.
PNF president Col Ikramullah Khan (retired) chaired the session which was attended by representatives of all major political parties, eminent editors and columnists, former senior members of armed forces, economists, educationists and former ambassadors.
Those who spoke on the occasion included Irshad Haqqani, Mowahid Husain Syed, Hanif Ramay, Lt-Gen Naseer Akhtar (retired), I. A. Rehman, former governor Shahid Hamid, Begum Mehnaz Rafi, CPNE president Mujibur Rehman Shami, Air Marshal Zafar Chaudhry (retired), Jamaat-i-Islami naib amir Aslam Saleemi, Rana Ikram Rabbani, Brig Muhammad Yousaf (retired) of Millat Party, former vice-chancellor Abdul Qayyum Qureshi and intellectual Raja Ghalib Ahmad.
Mr Kasuri said he was happy to declare that Pakistan enjoyed friendly relations with all the major powers, including the US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China, besides brotherly Muslim states such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan and members of Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC).
He said India’s recent offer of friendship to Pakistan was realization of the fact that problems and disputes, including Kashmir, between the two countries could not be solved through the use of force.
Pakistan, he said, has welcomed this initiative as it has always believed in peaceful co-existence with dignity, honour and respecting each other’s sovereignty.
Pakistan, therefore, accepted the offer in good faith as opportunity for composite dialogue.
He said sensitive issues which could not be solved for more than half a century have to be approached with guarded caution.
He said the prime minister has already invited opposition parties and government allies for consultations and evolve a joint strategy.
He assured the participants that the nation would be taken into confidence before taking a final decision and that the country’s best interests would never be compromised. The solution of key issue of Kashmir in accordance with the UN resolutions and the wishes of Kashmiri people remain the cornerstone of Pakistan’s foreign policy, he concluded.—APP