Qureshi rakes up Kashmir with US

Jul 20, 2010 |

Correspondent

Islamabad, July 19: With the US secretary of state Hillary Clinton by his side, the Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, on Monday raked up the Kashmir issue and said his country wants a sustained dialogue with India.

Mr Qureshi said, “sustaining dialogue with India and finding a just solution of the Kashmir dispute” was part of the “convergent interest” of US and Pakistan.

The Pakistan foreign minister referred to Kashmir and India in his opening remarks at the US-Pak Strategic Dialogue with Ms Clinton here on Monday morning.

“This vision is driven by our convergent interest in the present day including fighting the twin menace of extremism and terrorism,” Mr Qureshi said, referring to the mutual interest of the two countries in the region.

During the joint press conference by Ms Clinton and Mr Qureshi, there was no reference to Kashmir.

However, Ms Clinton said the US has no desire to mediate between India and Pakistan to settle the Kashmir dispute and the issue will have to be resolved by the two countries
through negotiations.

Ms Clinton said the situation in Pakistan and India was different from that in Iran. Pakistan and India are democracies and have free media while Iran is viewed differently as it does not have an free media.

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