ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Friday his SaudiArabian counterpart is likely to visit Pakistan on Saturday and that China,too, had also decided to send a special envoy to Pakistan and India to meetthe two countries’ leadership and help reduce bring down the ongoingtensions.
Qureshi had earlier, on Thursday, said the Kingdom’s Adel Al-Jubeir wascoming to Pakistan with an important message from Crown Prince Mohammad binSalman, commonly known as MbS.
His Saudi counterpart was currently at the Organisation of IslamicCooperation (OIC) summit in Abu Dhabi, the foreign minister told a local TVchannel, and that he would visit India and then Pakistan on Saturday.
Apart from Saudi and Chinese efforts to mediate between Pakistan and Indiaamid the critical times, the minister mentioned after having a conversationwith Sergey Lavrov, his Russian counterpart, that Moscow had also offeredto act as an arbitrator between Islamabad and New Delhi.
Noting that Pakistan had welcomed the Russian offer, even at the floor ofthe joint session of the parliament, Qureshi said the country was ready tohold a dialogue with India and the world knew that former desired todeescalate the situation.link link
Responding to a question, he said captured Indian fighter pilot, AbhinandanVarthaman, was not released following any foreign guarantee; rather, it wasdone as peace gesture on the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The FM also invited the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterresto visit Pakistan and the region to mediate.
In response to another question, Qureshi said it was the host government,not the OIC, that had invited the Indian foreign minister.
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However, Pakistan should have been consulted prior to inviting the Indianforeign minister, he said, particularly given the current situation.
India’s presence was resisted by Pakistan, Qureshi said, adding that hisTurkish and Iranian counterparts had not attended the OIC summit to make animpact.
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Reiterating Pakistan’s moral, political, and diplomatic support to Kashmiripeople, the foreign minister said Kashmiris had highlighted the issue welland made it an indigenous movement foiling the Indian designs of linking itwith terrorism.
He said the Indian plans to amend the Article 35-A of the constitution hadproved that they wanted to cover their defeat through demographical changes.
The minister also lauded US President Donald Trump’s statement, saying thatthe American leadership desired peace in the region to help ease thewithdrawal from Afghanistan.
