Pak won’t budge an inch from Kashmir stance : Qureshi

ISLAMABAD - Raking up the Kashmir issue once again, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said Islamabad would not step down from its ‘principled’ stance on Kashmir and river water sharing issues with India.

Addressing a public meeting in Multan, Qureshi said: “Islamabad will not budge an inch from its principled stance on Kashmir and water issues with India.”

Reiterating Pakistan’s long demand from India to resume the stalled composite dialogue Qureshi said Islamabad’s wants friendly relations with New Delhi based on mutual respect.

“We will convey our point of view during the composite dialogue,” The Daily Times quoted Qureshi, as saying.

Later, interacting with reporters at the Multan airport, Qureshi, while responding to a question that how Pakistan sees Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh’s recent Saudi Arabia visit, he said it is unlikely that India would seek Saudi mediation because it has always opted against a third-party’s involvement in matters involving Pakistan.

“However, as far as Pakistan is concerned, we have no objections,” added Qureshi.

Commenting on India’s continuous demands that Pakistan must do more against the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks, Qureshi said Islamabad, time and again, has clarified that it is doing whatever it can and has put the plotters on trial.

“We have told them (India) that courts in Pakistan are independent, just like India,” he said.

Condemning the series of blasts that rattled Lahore on Friday killing at least 55 persons and wounding over 100 others, Qureshi said: “Pakistan has been facing Mumbai-like situations every other day.” (ANI)