Sanjrani asks FM Qureshi to brief Senate on Kashmir situation

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Azam Khan Swati told the Senate on Monday that Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi would brief the house on the current situation in India-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Responding to a point of order raised by PPP senator Raza Rabbani, he said Qureshi would come to the Upper House of Parliament to give a briefing on the Kashmir situation.

Swati said: “We will not spare [Indian Prime Minister Narendra] Modi unless Kashmir gets freedom.”

Rabbani, slamming the foreign minister over his statement about talks with India, said BBC quoted Qureshi as saying that the government was ready for talks with New Delhi.

“When India is playing Holi with blood in Kashmir, we are talking about dialogue. While Kashmiris have no access to food and medicine, [Indian spy Kulbhushan] Jadhav was being granted consular access.”

He demanded that FM Qureshi be called to the house to give his explanation over the statement.

Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani asked the foreign minister to appear in the Upper House of Parliament to present his standpoint on the issue.

In an interview to BBC Urdu, FM Qureshi had offered conditional talks to New Delhi over the Kashmir issue if the Narendra Modi-led government lifts the curfew, release arrested leaders and stop human rights violations in the disputed territory.