Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has on March 1 confirmed that Jaish-e-Mohammed terror outfit chief Masood Azhar is in Pakistan and is “very unwell”.
According to ANI news reports, in an interview with CNN, Qureshi said: “He is in Pakistan. According to my information, he is very unwell. He’s unwell to the extent that he cannot leave his house because he is really. So, that’s the information I have.”
He went on to add that Islamabad will take strong actions against JeM chief Azhar if India provides Pakistan with “solid, inalienable evidence” against Azhar.
Qureshi said: “If they give us evidence which is acceptable to the courts of Pakistan … after all we will have to justify they will go to the court. If they have solid, inalienable evidence, share it with us so that we can convince the independent judiciary of Pakistan.”
While talking about the decision made by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan about the release of the Indian pilot wing commander Abhinandan Varthaman as a peace gesture from Islamabad, Qureshi said, “This was a goodwill gesture and we feel this should be an expression of Pakistan’s willingness to deescalate. We are willing to hand him over as soon as possible.”
Qureshi further thanked the United States President Donald Trump “for taking an interest to deescalate tensions between the two Asian nations”. He asserted Pakistan and the US had “good relations for decades”, and today “we have a shared objective to achieve peace and stability in Afghanistan”.
He said he had a telephonic conversation with US secretary of state Mike Pompeo during which they discussed this evolving situation.
Qureshi claimed: “I hope not … Pakistan never wants to escalate. Pakistan never wants to be in a hostile position … Imran Khan said if you take one step towards peace, we will take two.”
He said Khan had written to the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to let the two foreign ministers meet on the sidelines in New York so that they can chart a way forward.”
Qureshi said Khan’s government is “open to any step that leads to de-escalation”. He added, “If they have good solid evidence, please sit and talk. Please initiate a dialogue and we will show reasonableness.”