MULTAN: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Saturday condemned the deadly Christchurch mosque attacks and blamed Islamophobia as the major force behind the growing hate against Muslims across Europe.
Addressing a presser in Multan, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) stalwart said that nine Pakistan nationals are missing after the Christchurch attack.
“[Pakistani] government is making efforts to find the missing persons however those efforts have been proved futile so far,” he asserted while adding that all possible assistance will be given to their families.
To a question, Qureshi replied that over 300 Pakistani reside in the New Zealand city of Christchurch.
“A list of those injured in the accident has been released by the foreign office, which features one Pakistani too,” he added.
Qureshi blatantly blamed Islamophobia for the deadly attack which took the lives of 49 people and said that it is a heinous act of terrorism.
Qureshi, while speaking about bilateral relations between Pakistan and India, said that there has been an ease in the tensions as Pakistan as well the international countries have attempted to de-escalate the tensions.
“The decision to release the captured Indian pilot was one such gesture,” he recalled.
To a question whether or not Pakistan should expect a positive answer from India, Qureshi asserted that Islamabad does not have any hopes from Narendra Modi – at least till the general election.
He further said that Pakistan is fully prepared to defend its sovereignty “if the time comes”.
To a question pertaining to Kartarpur dialogue, he maintained that the next meeting between the two countries will take place on April 2.
Qureshi upheld that the government is fully committed to getting Dr Aafia Siddiqui released. Pakistan has also talked to the US government in this regard and “hopefully, she will return to her home soon”.
