Pakistan is a strong, vibrant country that is no danger of collapse, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said.Talking to Karan Thapar in the Devil's Advocate programme on CNN-IBN, he said that statements from senior US officials on Pakistan facing internal collapse were exaggerations. He said only certain 'pockets' of Swat are under the control of the Taliban or under attack. "I will not deny that it's a concern," he said, adding that the government feels that dialogue is one of the options that can help "clear those pockets" of the insurgents.
Outstanding issues: Qureshi said Pakistan and India have to address all outstanding issues, including Kashmir, to develop friendly relations. He said India's concerns could only be addressed through talks. "I understand your concern. You can only address that concern by cooperating with Pakistan and not accusing Pakistan. That negative policy will not be in your interest," he said. He said it was in the mutual interest of both countries to bring the culprits of the Mumbai attacks to justice, adding that Islamabad would not accept any conditions. "We had in place a process or the composite dialogue. Unfortunately, the tragic Mumbai incident put that on hold. I would be interested in restarting that process because I feel that was a meaningful process, we were making incremental progress," he added.
When asked about India's response to the 30 questions posed by Pakistan on the Mumbai attack, Qureshi said: "Everything has not been answered but we will proceed forward in a cooperative environment. If more is required, we will share it with you." He said Pakistan had not allowed the FBI to interrogate the Mumbai attack suspects, as the American agency's assistance was not yet required.
Global challenge: The foreign minister said terrorism and extremism were a global phenomena and "friends in India" should understand that "this is a common challenge" that needs to be countered collectively. To questioning, he said Pakistan has taken positive steps to dismantle the terror infrastructure "which are not being recognised and you are overlooking them". He said Pakistani authorities had arrested "very high profile people" and seized and frozen assets.
Al Qaeda help: On US accusations of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) having links to the Taliban or Al Qaeda, Qureshi said that people forget the positive contributions that the ISI has made in the fight against terrorism. He said that without the ISI's help, the coalition forces would not have been able to apprehend "700 or so Al Qaeda operatives". He said Pakistan was in the process of restructuring ISI, adding that the organisation "has been cleansed". He said the US should have conveyed any concerns related to the ISI through diplomatic channels instead of through the media.
