ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that all political parties and institutions in the country are on the same page for bilateral talks with India, ARY News reported on Thursday.
Talking to Indian journalists who visited the Foreign Ministry after Kartarpur Border Corridor ceremony, Mr. Qureshi emphasized that Pakistan wanted good relations with all the neighbouring countries.
The development of the region is linked with sustainable peace, he added.
Mr. Qureshi said both the countries [India and Pakistan] shouldn’t miss any chance to strengthen relations. “We should move forward and forget the mistakes of the past.”
He informed the Indian delegation that Pakistan had lost 75,000 lives in the war on terror, “while also suffered a loss of 123 billion dollars consequently.”
He said the country was fighting against terror for the last 70 years and the world had also acknowledged the fact. The foreign minister said concerted efforts were must to root out the menace of terrorism from the region.
He was of the view that Pakistan and India were facing many similar challenges that could only be tackled through mutual efforts.
Earlier on Wednesday, Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone of the Kartarpur corridor on Wednesday.
https://arynews.tv/en/pm-imran-arrives-to-perform-ground-breaking-of-kartarpur-corridor/
A high-level delegation and a group of Indian journalists also took part in the ceremony. Former Indian cricketer, Navjot Singh Sidhu, also made a speech at the ceremony.
In the interview ahead of the ground breaking of Kartarpur Corridor on Wednesday, Qureshi had said that the corridor was a path to minimize distances between the two countries. “We have historical issues with India, but what is solution of these issues,” Qureshi asked.
From the very first day of the government the prime minister has expressed his desire for peace in the region, Qureshi said. ” War could not resolve problems. Both countries are nuclear powers and a war in them will be suicide, Pakistan’s foreign minister said.
Kartarpur Corridor is an effort to wipe out distances, Qureshi said. People were arriving here by Wagah border crossing, travelling a distance of 400 kilometers, now we have cut it to four kilometers, the minister said.
Qureshi said that the decision of opening Kartarpur Corridor is a change of mindset.
