Pakistan desires peace in region but India has expansionist designs: FM Qureshi

GENEVA: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said internal security and economic improvement are priorities of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government besides dealing with external challenges.

Addressing a seminar at Center for Security Policy in Geneva on Wednesday, he said the government is pursuing multi-pronged strategy despite facing challenges to regional security, Radio Pakistan reported.

The minister said Pakistan’s distinctive geographical position carries special importance in formation of the country’s foreign policy.

He said Pakistan desires peace in the region but it also has to face mischievous activities on the eastern border from India, which has expansionist designs.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi said India abolished the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on the fifth of the last month, setting aside the United Nations Security Council resolutions, and now it wants to change the demographic composition of occupied Kashmir.

The purpose of his participation in the UN Human Rights Council session was to apprise the world about the human rights violations being committed by India in occupied Kashmir.

He said Pakistan alone is not highlighting the Kashmir issue, but European Parliament, British Parliament, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, The Washington Post and New York Times are also raising voice on the atrocities being committed in occupied Kashmir.