ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Saturday alleged that prior to the Russia visit, the US national security adviser (NSA) called his Pakistani counterpart with one message: “Don’t go”.
Addressing the National Assembly floor, the federal minister questioned how a sovereign state could be stopped from a bilateral visit in this manner. “We are a sovereign state. We do not want to bear the yoke of slavery,” he added.
Qureshi added that once the decision to go was made, Pakistan decided to give its input on the Ukraine war. “Pakistan is a country that believes in the United Nations charter and self-determination and we have never supported the use of force. We reiterated that in the UN General Assembly and when the American NSA gave us the message.”
He also highlighted how Pakistani citizens were evacuated from Ukraine as the Russian invasion began. “We made what efforts we could. There was talk of humanitarian assistance, I sent it myself,” he pointed out.
FM Qureshi lambasted the fact that lawmakers switched their loyalties for material gain. “Are those powers who have sworn to uphold the Constitution not seeing this bazaar?” he asked, adding that the nation was well aware of how votes were bought and sold during last year’s Senate elections.
“We presented those videos in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The PTI kept knocking on the ECP’s doors for a year. After this struggle, the arguments were concluded. But despite the lapse of a year, we have not gotten justice,” he lamented.
The foreign minister also said that “blatant attempts” for changing the regime were not hidden. Striking a philosophical note, he said that man was temporary but facts could not be suppressed. “History will expose those who have run this entire drama the pen of the historian does not forgive anyone,” he added.
Acknowledging that today may perhaps be his last day as foreign minister, Qureshi said he wanted to take the house into confidence. He maintained that the process for the prime minister’s Russia visit was set in motion two months before it was scheduled.
“We called and consulted Pakistan’s seasoned diplomats, academics and some media persons at PM House regarding the pros and cons of undertaking the visit. It was decided with mutual consultation that it would be in Pakistan’s interest to go ahead with it,” he added.
Qureshi also talked about the recently held meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). “The Afghan issue, the Kashmir issue and the Ukraine issue were raised. We built consensus among 57 countries of the Islamic ummah,” he noted.
Talking about the “threat letter”, the foreign minister noted how the opposition had termed it to be fake while PML-N’s Maryam Nawaz had alleged it was drafted in the Foreign Office.
“This is a very big claim. I am fasting and I am saying with God as my witness that we were not lying but presenting the facts to the nation. The document that I received and read was authentic,” he said, calling on the opposition to not question the professionalism of seasoned diplomats.
He added, “If the opposition members still have questions about that document, I will give a briefing in parliament. Let’s go for an in-camera session and let the ambassador to the US tell us whether he stands by what he sent.”
“Is it not a threat if you are told that there will be very bad consequences if you do not desist, that Pakistan will be forgiven if the no-confidence motion is passed but will be isolated if the motion fails?” he asked.
Talking about the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), he said that the PTI government felt that this was a project that would enhance regional connectivity and lift millions of people out of poverty.
He stated that PTI government’s foreign policy called for good relations with every country and to increase Pakistan’s diplomatic space. “We want good relations with everyone and don’t want to be hostile with any country. That has been our policy,” he said.
He called on lawmakers to not push Pakistan into a constitutional crisis and to go for fresh elections. ‘Why are you scared of the nation?” he asked the opposition benches. He added that all of the nation’s political parties were on one side while PM Imran was on the other.
