LAHORE:
Senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday clarified that former PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry had visited him in hospital only to inquire about his health and stressed that he remained bound by the party’s official policy.
Qureshi, who has been acquitted in several cases on May 9 while several other PTI leaders have been convicted, made the remarks during an informal interaction with reporters inside a courtroom. The former foreign minister is currently incarcerated in Lahore’s Kot Lakpat jail in connection with other cases.
Chaudhry and other former PTI leaders had met Qureshi at a hospital in November, where they said the latter had supported their efforts to lower the political temperature.
Responding to a question about Chaudhry’s meeting with him, Qureshi said that they both belonged to the same political party. He explained that Chaudhry first visited him at the hospital to check on his health and later came to his home as a guest. “You don’t ask a guest why they came to see you,” he remarked.
When asked if he supported Chaudhry’s proposed National Dialogue Committee, Qureshi said that as PTI’s vice-chairman, he could not deviate from the party’s official position.
However, he added that the country’s stakeholders needed to reflect on how the ongoing political impasse could be resolved. “After resistance, reconciliation ultimately follows,” he said, stressing that meaningful dialogue was the only way for the country to move forward.
Qureshi noted that PTI founder Imran Khan had empowered Opposition Leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai to handle negotiations, adding that the latter was better placed to decide the future course of action. “We are in prison and have limited access to information,” he said.
Commenting on regional affairs, Qureshi said Pakistan had provided significant aid to Afghanistan in the past, but stressed that Islamabad’s demand that Afghan soil not be used against Pakistan was legitimate.
He added that Afghanistan’s prosperity and stability were closely linked to Pakistan, and said Kabul would need to maintain positive relations with Islamabad if the country sought long-term stability. “We want peace and Afghanistan should stand with us against terrorism,” he said.
Qureshi further stated that the situation along the border with Iran was currently under control.
Referring to regional security, he said that Pakistan had defeated India in battle and that “God gave us glory”, while warning that the threat from India had not yet fully subsided.
