ISLAMABAD – Minister for Foreign Affairs Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi onThursday said Pakistan was ready to hold talks with the new electedgovernment in India for regional peace.
He said Pakistan was always ready to play a constructive role for regionalpeace and it had already taken many steps in that regard.
Talking to media, he said Pakistan initiated the opening of Kartarpurcorridor and also released the Indian pilot without imposing any condition.
To a question regarding changes in the cabinet, Qureshi said it was theprerogative of Prime Minister Imran Khan to choose his team.
He hailed Asad Umar, who, he added, took over the charge of the FinanceMinistry at a time when the economy was in a challenging condition. AsadUmar was among the important leaders of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and wouldremain to be so in future too.
He said the country was facing record trade deficit when the PTI took overthe charge, adding that previous government took huge loans and destroyedthe country’s economy.
He said the PPP and PML-N governments had ignored industrial andagriculture sectors adding that the previous government had left circulardebt of Rs 1200 billion.
Read Top Stories
To another question, Qureshi said growth rate should be enhanced.Employment opportunities were being created to reduce poverty in thecountry.
He said the issues and problems persisted in the country for long, but theyattained alarming proportions due to erroneous policies of pastgovernments. He said the incumbent government was taking steps to improveeconomy.
To a question about recent rains and hailstorms, the minister said variouscrops had been affected badly due to the hail and windstorms. Thegovernment had decided to assess the losses and directed the districtadministrations across South Punjab in that regard so the areas could bedeclared calamity hit.
To a question about terrorism, Qureshi said some elements wanted todestabilize the country through extremism. “We will have to foil thedesigns of these elements.”
