Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday appeared on Geo News programme “Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath” and said that former Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden (OBL) “is a thing of the past and my focus is on the present and the future”.
Qureshi was asked once more about why it is that he, along with Prime Minister Imran Khan, avoid clarifying whether OBL is a martyr or terrorist.
“Osama Bin Laden is a thing of the past. I am not concerned with the past. You are lost in the past. My focus is on the present and the future,” said Qureshi.
Khanzada explained that he was asking for clarity because Pakistan paid a huge price for confusion in the past when it was said that there is a “dual policy with sympathy for terrorists”.
“I wish to bring you out of the past,” Qureshi said, in response. “My friend, I wish to bring you out of the past. And I tell you, you must think about the future. That future will impact Pakistan, it’s economy and its society. We are absolutely clear on this. We are against terrorism.”
Qureshi further added that PM Khan takes inspiration from the country’s founder, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah.
Qureshi was also asked why Pakistan is giving confused statements, when in the backdrop of the US defence secretary’s words about Afghanistan’s soil being used against the US by Daesh or Al-Qaeda in two years’ time, such remarks could come back to haunt us.
To this Qureshi said: “No, no, no, no. We have great clarity on this. We will never want Afghan or Pakistan soil to be used against a third country, let alone America. I would never want it to be even used against any of our neighbours. Not at all.”
“We have great clarity. We do not and never will support terrorist organisations and will never want for them to gain such power or importance that they become capable of striking the mainland, some other country, or some coalition partner who have done so much for Afghanistan,” added Qureshi.
“We will have to admit one thing. The coalition there invested a great deal [in society]. They have invested billions of dollars, established institutions, promoted education, taught them governance. Who will want them to come under attack?” he said.
In an interview with Afghanistan’s Tolo News, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi skipped a question when asked if Osama bin Laden was a martyr. Qureshi paused for a few seconds and then said, “I will let that pass.”
