Pak says it has not knelt before India

Rezaul H Laskar

Islamabad, Feb 8 (PTI) Needling India which has
proposed Foreign Secretary-level talks, Pakistan has said it
has not knelt before New Delhi which has been forced to return
to the negotiating table.

"India, which had broken off the composite dialogue
process and spoken of severing contacts with Pakistan, has
come to us and sought talks. We never kneeled before them and
did not bow to their pressure," Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood
Qureshi told a gathering in his hometown of Multan in Punjab
province on Sunday.
He, however, said that Pakistan will go ahead with the
talks because it has a "strong case" on several outstanding
issues, including Kashmir and sharing of river waters.
The minister's remarks comes close on the heels of
India proposing talks between Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao
and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir suggesting either
February 18 or 25 for holding the meeting. The talks were
suspended after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
Qureshi claimed India had tried to isolate Pakistan
diplomatically but had failed due to the "effective" policies
pursued by Islamabad.
Pakistan will not tolerate any pressure and will
protect its interests, he asserted.
Qureshi will chair several meetings this week to
assess the Indian proposal and finalise an agenda for the
talks.

The minister recalled that he was in New Delhi at the
time of the Mumbai attacks in November 2008.
"I still stand by the stance Pakistan had taken at
that time," he said. Pakistan had condemned the 26/11 attacks.
"Our stance was principled and based on truth," he
said, adding that Pakistan itself had faced several
challenging situations during the past two years.
Terrorists were targeting mosques and religious
processions but the government is determined to crush
terrorism and would not let terrorists succeed in their
nefarious designs, Qureshi said.
Pakistan's armed forces have launched successful
operations against terrorists and an international conference
on Afghanistan held recently in London had commended the
country's role in the war on terror and acknowledged the
sacrifices rendered by the people and the military, he said.
In a brief interaction with the media after the
meeting, Qureshi said all issues will be discussed during the
upcoming talks with India.
Pakistan will put up its problems and India will
present its issues during the parleys, he said.
Asked to comment on India's contention that
cross-border infiltration of militants had increased in the
recent past, Qureshi said all issues will be discussed at the
negotiating table and not through the media. PTI RHL