Terrorism is a global issue, not a Pak or Afghan-specific issue: Quraishi

ISLAMABAD - Accepting the existence of a trust deficit between India and Pakistan, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmoud Quraishi has said that both Islamabad and New Delhi need to be extremely cautious when levelling accusations, especially on the issue of terror attacks.

“It is easy to make the climate hostile, but it is difficult to build bridges,” he told the Gulf News in an interview here.

“By disengaging, we cannot bridge the trust deficit. The only way to do this is to talk and understand each other. Even if we agree or disagree, it will still be progress and the trust will be built gradually,” he added.

Describing the terror attacks that took place in Mumbai between November 26 and 29, 2008, as both tragic and sad, Quraishi said: “The Government of Pakistan has condemned it. But it has happened. There are other incidents which are sad and should not have happened, like the attack on the Samjhauta Express where Pakistanis were killed. And now the RSS has claimed responsibility in India.”

“If we get stuck in Mumbai first or Samjhauta Express first, it will not solve the problem. We both are suffering from the problem of terrorism. Terrorism is not a Pakistan and Afghanistan specific issue; it is a regional and global issue. We cannot deal with it individually. We need a global strategy and regional approach to solve this problem. I suggest to India to evolve a common approach,” he added. (ANI)