Pakistan ‘happy’ about Obama’s India visit: Qureshi

NEW DELHI - Pakistan was “not at all feeling marginalized” about US President Barack Obama’s visit to India but was happy about it, the country’s Foreign Miniser Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Monday and added that it was committed to dismantling terror networks.

Stressing that “dialogue (with India) is the need of the hour”, Qureshi told a TV channel shortly after the Obama-Manmohan Singh press conference here: “We are glad India is finally warming up to Pakistan. We are not at all feeling marginalized, we are feeling happy about it.”

In response to a question on whether Pakistan was feeling left out, he said Islamabad had a long history of relations with the US and Obama had announced before his trip to India that he would be visiting Pakistan.

Labelling statements by Obama “mature and balanced”, Qureshi said that everybody needed to join hands to deal with terrorism.

“Many countries in the region have been affected by it… we have been affected by it.”

Terrorist machinery and terror networks existed all over the world, the minister told CNN-IBN.

“There are terror organisations trying to undermine many societies. We cannot be selective and specific towards a country… No one country on its own can deal with it.”

He added that there were terror groups based and operating in India.

Qureshi said he had a “lot of respect” for the Indian prime minister.

“I think he means well. But you have to look at the larger picture… until then we will not be able to make progress,” he stated shortly after Manmohan Singh, at the press conference, again addressed the need for Pakistan to dismantle terror networks on its soil.

The policy of the democratically elected government of Pakistan, Qureshi said, was that it condemned terrorism and would not allow its soil to be used against anyone - “that includes India”.

“Pakistan is not only committed to dismantling terror networks… it has shown the determination to do so,” the minister said, stressing that Pakistani citizens had lost lives in defeating and fighting terrorism.