INDOPAK-LD QURESHI 3 LST

Qureshi made it clear that Pakistan is not willing to
back down on its historical position on the Kashmir issue. He
joined issues with Krishna on his assertion that any human
rights violations and law and order problems in Jammu and
Kashmir would be handled by the state's elected government.
"It was already decided that Kashmir is part of our
talks and that it is a disputed territory. If it is said that
Pakistan's people and Kashmiris should become delinked from
the situation inside (Jammu and Kashmir), that is not
possible," he said.
"There may be mechanisms in India to watch human
rights violations but if the army is being deployed to
maintain law and order, there is curfew in many cities,
strikes across Jammu and Kashmir and innocent people are being
affected, how can Pakistan become delinked?" he said.
"The government of Indian-occupied Kashmir is also
looking forward to this dialogue and is keen there is some
forward movement vis-a-vis this dialogue because they
understand the difficulties they are undergoing at the
moment."
Pakistan is as prepared as India to tack terrorism
because it is a victim of the menace, he added.
Qureshi also contested Krishna's assertion that
Pakistan has not provided even a "shred of evidence" of
India's alleged role in fomenting unrest in Balochistan,
saying he had not spoken out at yesterday's joint press
conference as he was the host and Krishna was his guest.
"According to my information, our Interior Minister
discussed this with their Home Minister and (Krishna) should
be aware of this," he said. PTI