Pakistan will reciprocate when India ready for talks — FM Qureshi

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will reciprocate when India is ready for talks, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Friday, after Prime Minister Imran Khan met Indian premier Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the 19th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.
India and Pakistan, nuclear-armed neighbors and perennial rivals, have gone to war three times since independence in the mid-20th century — and another conflict nearly erupted earlier this year.
“We are neither in haste, nor troubled. When India prepares itself, it would find us prepared, but we will hold talks on the basis of equality, in a dignified manner,” Qureshi said in an interview to a private TV channel. “We need neither to run after anyone nor to demonstrate stubbornness. Pakistan’s approach is very realistic and well thought-out.”
Last month, Modi scored a dramatic election victory, putting his Hindu nationalist party on course to increase its majority on a mandate of business-friendly policies and a tough stand on national security, including ties with Pakistan.
Modi’s pledge of a strong stand against a separatist movement in Muslim-majority Kashmir has fueled tension with Pakistan, although Khan congratulated Modi on his win.
“Pakistan has said what it had to,” the foreign minister said. “India has not come out of its election mindset and the extreme position they had taken to influence their constituency and to keep their vote bank intact. It is still confined in that.”
Qureshi confirmed that Khan had met his Indian counterpart on the sidelines of the SCO summit. He described the meeting as a “courtesy” and said: “Yes, the meeting did take place. There was a handshake and exchange of pleasantries.”