Pakistan on Tuesday claimed there was a “positive” development in its relations with India in the past 48 hours and proposed two concrete measures to defuse current tension between the two neighbours. “There have been certain developments in the past 48 hours that Pakistan thinks are positive and welcoming," Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said in his statement here, while proposing that both countries should deactivate its forward air bases and relocating ground forces to peacetime positions to resume ‘friendly relations’.
One of these developments was India’s External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's comment that New Delhi has not given Pakistan any ultimatum with regard to the Mumbai terror attacks, he said. “Deadlines cannot resolve problems between neighbors. Dialogue, and that too in a peaceful atmosphere, is the only solution,” Qureshi said.
Another positive development was the direct contact over the weekend between the director generals of military operations of the two countries as this will also help reduce tensions, he added. The Pakistan minister further said the telephonic conversation between President Asif Ali Zardari and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the meetings of Pakistan’s high officials in Washington also helped in promoting the country’s point of view. Qureshi said Pakistan was also thankful to China for its efforts to de-escalate tension between Pakistan and India. The minister stressed the need for using direct contacts and diplomatic channels for improving the ties and said the importance of dialogue should not be overruled. Pakistan wants to resolve the conflicts at dialogue table, he said. Regarding the Mumbai incident, Qureshi said Pakistan’s approach has been positive from the day one and it stands by its commitment to fully cooperate with India once it shared evidence and information regarding the deadly strikes.
“The government of Pakistan wants to assure India that when the evidence reaches us, we will make all efforts to get to the bottom of the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice,” Qureshi said.
He said India still had not shared any evidence on the Mumbai attacks with Pakistan. “The basic reason for this is that their investigation is yet to be completed. As soon as their investigation is completed, they will share evidence with us,” he added.
