FM Qureshi says govt committed to coping with regional security challenges

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

Addressing a seminar at Center for Security Policy in Geneva, Qureshi said the government is pursuing multi-pronged strategy despite facing challenges to regional security.

“Pakistan's distinctive geographical position carries special importance in the formation of the country's foreign policy,” he said.

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

Qureshi added India abolished the special status of Indian occupied Kashmir on the fifth of the last month, setting aside the UN Security Council resolutions and now it wants to change the demographic composition of occupied Kashmir.

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

He said Pakistan alone is not highlighting the occupied Kashmir issue, but European Parliament, British Parliament, Organisation 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 Indian occupied Kashmir.