Says country\u2019s economic future is linked with China but that doesn\u2019t mean ties with US are being reset
\nnews desk
\nislamabad
\nPrime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said that Saudi Arabia would always be a friend of Pakistan despite the government\u2019s recent criticism of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) over the Kashmir issue.
\n\u201cYes, we want OIC to play a bigger role [in the Kashmir issue]. But let me make it clear: Saudi Arabia will always be a friend of Pakistan,\u201d he said in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera news.
\nThe prime minister was responding to a question about Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi\u2019s unusually sharp warning in August asking the OIC to stop dilly-dallying on convening a meeting of its Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) on Kashmir.
\nIn an interview with a private news channel, Qureshi had said if the kingdom failed to summon the meeting, Pakistan would be ready to go for a session outside the OIC.
\nThe Foreign Office (FO) had defended these remarks, saying Qureshi\u2019s statement was a reflection of the people\u2019s aspirations and expectations from the OIC to raise the Kashmir issue internationally.
\nWhen asked about the lack of international support on the issue in today\u2019s interview, the premier replied that Kashmir was a disputed territory between Pakistan and India.
\n\u201cThis disputed territory was taken over by India on August 5, last year by brute force,\u201d he said, adding that Pakistan had \u201cknocked on all doors\u201d and would continue doing so.
\n\u201cIf this escalates and if it breaks into a conflict between India and Pakistan, it will have implications for the rest of the world.\u201d
\nHowever, the reason why certain parts of the world are not responding on the issue, is because they are worried about their commercial interests, he said.
\n\u201cThey look upon India as a huge market, and so they are willing to ignore this huge travesty of justice taking place [in the valley].
\n\u201c[But] it doesn\u2019t mean we will sit down quietly and accept this. We will keep trying.\u201d
\n\u2018Just settlement for Palestinian conflict\u2019
\nThe premier also touched upon the recent deal regarding the normalisation of ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
\n\u201cAny one-sided settlement which is going to be imposed on the Palestinians is not going to work because the issue will never get resolved.
\n\u201cIsrael is in a very strong position right now, probably the strongest it\u2019s ever been. But Israel too must recognise that if they do not allow Palestinians to have a just settlement, the issue is not going to die down.\u201d
\nPM Imran said the issue will just keep \u201cfestering\u201d even if some countries recognise Israel as a state. \u201cIt\u2019s in Israel\u2019s interest that there should be a just settlement.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Says country\u2019s economic future is linked with China but that doesn\u2019t mean ties with US are being reset news desk islamabad Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said that Saudi Arabia would always be a friend of Pakistan despite the government\u2019s recent criticism of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) over the Kashmir issue. \u201cYes, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125997,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-142248","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n