Global power politics affect Afghanistan, Pakistan: Qureshi

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that Afghanistan and Pakistan have heavily suffered from global power politics as he addressed a the UN General Assembly on Saturday.
He said that dialogue is the only way to address longstanding issues that have affected South Asia.
“Afghanistan and together with it, Pakistan, has suffered heavily at the hands of global power play, strategic miscalculations and cognitive dissonance,” he said.
He said there is no military solution to the war in Afghanistan.
“That there is no military solution to the war in Afghanistan is now a foregone conclusion. It is time to act upon that conclusion. A negotiated settlement has assumed urgency in the face of the worrisome and growing presence of Daesh in Afghanistan,” he said.
He added that the two countries had operationalized the Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity.
“It lays down the blueprint for extensive engagements in all areas of common interests,” he said.
Qureshi blamed India for a recent breakdown in their relations, adding that “India prefers politics over peace”.
“To divert the world’s attention from its brutalities, India frequently violates the ceasefire along the Line of Control in Kashmir. Despite numerous violations, Pakistan has acted with restraint but if India does venture across the Line of Control or acts upon its a doctrine of limited war against Pakistan, it will evoke a strong and matching response,” he added.
Qureshi’s comments came after India accused Pakistan of giving sanctuaries to “terrorists”.
“In our case, terrorism is bred not in some faraway land, but across our border to the west,” Indian foreign minister Sushima Swaraj said. “Our neighbor’s expertise is not restricted to spawning grounds for terrorism, it is also an expert in trying to mask malevolence with verbal duplicity,”
swarage said. Qureshi and Swaraj were supposed to meet at the UN this week, but the day after the meeting was announced, India called it off after an Indian border guard was killed in the disputed region of Kashmir.