Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, whose criticism of external affairs minister S.M. Krishna at the conclusion of their two-hour-long talks in Islamabad drew flak, has reportedly called and all but apologised to his Indian counterpart for any perceived insults thrown at him while he was on Pakistani soil.
Mr Qureshi’s call comes ahead of the donors conference in Kabul on July 20 which both are slated to attend. Mr Qureshi has reportedly requested a one-on-one meeting with Mr Krishna.
Indian officials said Pakistan’s foreign minister had climbed down after he received a rap on his knuckles for his personal attack on Mr Krishna from his own Prime Minister, Mr Yousuf Raza Gilani, and, later, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who is heading for the Kabul conference, billed as the largest gathering of foreign leaders in the Afghan capital since the 1970s.
Ms Clinton, who spoke to Mr Krishna on Saturday, said she wanted to meet him separately at the summit, while making clear that she “disapproved” of the tone and tenor of Mr Qureshi’s language and behaviour during his interaction with the Pakistani media.
Ms Clinton told Mr Krishna that she wanted to see the resumption of talks between the two nations and for Pakistan to be seen to be taking “credible action” against those who unleashed the terror attack on Mumbai.
Officials at the talks told this newspaper the acrimony during the negotiations between the foreign ministers spilled over into the joint press conference. Mr Qureshi wanted all mention of 26/11 removed from the joint statement, trotting out the new-found ISI mantra that “Pakistan is as much a victim of terrorism as India is; you have had one 26/11, we have a 26/11 every day”. Mr Qureshi was insistent that Jammu and Kashmir and Balochistan be included in the joint statement, to which Mr Krishna, fearing a fallout akin to that of Sharm el-Sheikh, said a firm no.
India insisted that calls for action against the perpetrators of 26/11, given the Headley interrogation, be incorporated into the statement, leading to Pakistan’s accusations that India was dictating the terms of the agenda. Pakistan wanted nothing more than a mention of forthcoming interactions on commerce and culture.
Mr Krishna’s meeting with the chief minister of Punjab, Mr Shahbaz Sharif of the rival Pakistan Muslim League (N) and a known Army-baiter, is said to have upset the Makhdoom from Multan n Turn to Page 3
(Mr Qureshi). Mr Krishna presented a chadar to be laid at Lahore’s celebrated Data Darbar, the recent target of a suicide bomber.