ISLAMABAD, November 14: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has ruled out possibilities of any progress in peace talks with India before the upcoming general elections in the neighbouring country. He was speaking to the media after attending a meeting of the standing committee on foreign affairs, chaired by Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed in Islamabad. Qureshi said he briefed the committee on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s foreign policy. The participants of the meeting strongly condemned atrocities being committed by the Indian security forces in the Occupied Kashmir.
Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent visits to Saudi Arabia and China and Pakistan’s bilateral relations with India and Afghanistan were also discussed during the meeting.
Dismissing all rumours, Foreign Minister Qureshi said Aasia Bibi did not leave the country and was present in Pakistan. He, however, added that the case should not be discussed in the media for being sub-judice at the Supreme Court.
The foreign minister also avoided commenting on a question regarding Superintendent Police (SP) Tahir Dawar’s abduction and alleged murder in Afghanistan.
On Monday, Foreign Minister Qureshi told his Canadian counterpart that Pakistan recognises Aasia Bibi’s legal rights. Bibi, the 51-year-old Christian woman accused of blasphemy in 2010 and sentenced to death but on October 30 she was acquitted by the Supreme Court.-Agencies
