Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday said that the United Arab Emirates leadership was told that Pakistan will not recognise Israel till the resolution of the Palestine issue. Talking to the media in Multan, the foreign minister, who returned from a two-day visit to UAE on Saturday, said, "we heard the UAE rulers' stance on Israel, and clearly conveyed ours to them as well". He said Pakistan's decisions will not be dictated by pressure but by its own circumstances. "Neither will we tolerate any pressure regarding Israel, nor we are under any compulsion [to recognise it]," he added. The foreign minister stated that he had presented the country's clear stance on both the Kashmir and Palestine issues. Furthermore, Qureshi stated that he discussed the difficulties being faced by Pakistanis residing in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Dubai, reiterating that the visa problem currently facing Pakistanis in the UAE was temporary. "Neither UAE nor Saudi Arabia give preference to India over Pakistan," he stated, adding that a delegation form the UAE will soon be visiting Pakistan. 'Matter of grave concern' Talking about the ceasefire violation by the Indian forces targeting the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) officials and their vehicle along the Line of Control (LoC), the FM said it was a matter of ‘grave concern’. “Firing on the peacekeepers is a crime,” he said, adding that India had been constantly violating the ceasefire agreement. The matter should be investigated, that Pakistan has already requested for, he said. FM reiterated that Pakistan wants to promote peace in the region but the Indian government wants to deteriorate the situation to divert [world’s] attention from their internal problems. “There are reports that India can carry out a surgical strike [against Pakistan] under any pretext,” the FM said. “If India takes any irresponsible action, we will be forced to take a timely and appropriate response.” Qureshi maintained that Pakistan wants to promote economic relations with neighbouring countries and that peace in Afghanistan would benefit the whole region. “India is to be blamed if attention is diverted from Afghanistan,” Qureshi stressed. 'Opposition confused' Speaking of the Pakistan Democratic Movement's (PDM) threat of resigning from the assemblies, the foreign minister observed that there appeared to be a lot of confusion among the opposition members over the issue. The 11-party opposition alliance had earlier threatened to submit en masse ‘resignations’ in its effort to overthrow the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government. The PDM had announced that parliamentarians belonging to its constituent parties would submit their resignations from the national and provincial assemblies to their respective party chiefs by December 31. “There was no unity among them (PDM),” FM Qureshi said. “Part of the PDM wants to resign, whereas the other part is against it.” The foreign minister added that the opposition should submit their resignations immediately to the National Assembly speaker if they were serious about it. “What is the impediment?” Qureshi asked.
from World News - Breaking international news and Updates | The Express Tribune https://ift.tt/38l7AOZ
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