WASHINGTON – Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has made it clear to USwho is looking for new partners and friends in the region (pointing atIndia) that Pakistan too has other options.

He said that though the US, as a global power, expects ‘special treatment’,Pakistan does hope to be friends with the US while exercising its option tocultivate relations with China and others.

In an interview to Al-Jazeera, he said: “We want the US to be friends withPakistan. We recognise that the US is an important global power, and theywill continue to be a military, technological and economic power in theforeseeable future. They are looking at different options; they are lookingat new friends in the region. We do have friends who have been consistentand very valuable. China is one of them. The others who recognise howimportant, how strategically located Pakistan is and to understandPakistan’s importance. So, we are not alone and everyone has options.”

About Pakistan-India relations, Qureshi referred back to Prime MinisterImran Khan’s first public address on July 26, in which he said, “You takeone step towards peace, we will take two,” and pointed to Prime MinisterKhan’s subsequent requests for constructive, peaceful dialogue with Indiaas part of the new government’s approach.

“What we did.. we thought made sense. Two neighbours with outstandingissues, atomic powers. How do you fix things? War is no option. There is nomilitary solution. The only solution is a dialogue.”