Qureshi says India invited Pakistan to attend conference on Afghanistan

Islamabad, Oct 21 (PTI) Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Thursday that Pakistan has received an invitation from India to attend a conference on Afghanistan and a decision about attending the meeting would be taken in due course of time.

Qureshi made the comments while addressing a press conference in Islamabad after returning from his day-long visit to Kabul where he met Afghanistan’s acting Prime Minister Mullah Hassan Akhund along with a high level delegation and discussed various issues.

"Currently ties between Pakistan and India lack warmth…We will decide the issue of attending the conference after consultation,” he said.

Ties between India and Pakistan nose-dived after a terror attack on the Pathankot Air Force base in 2016 by terror groups based in the neighbouring country. Subsequent attacks, including one on an Indian Army camp in Uri, further deteriorated the relationship.

The relationship dipped further after India’s war planes pounded a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp deep inside Pakistan on February 26, 2019 in response to the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed.

The relations deteriorated after India announced withdrawing special powers of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcation of the state into two union territories in August, 2019.

India has told Pakistan that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Islamabad in an environment free of terror, hostility and violence. India has said the onus is on Pakistan to create an environment free of terror and hostility.

Earlier this month, Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, when asked about the possibility of improvement in India's ties with Pakistan, said unless the basic core issue of terrorism emanating from the neighbouring country is dealt with, "I think we will not see much forward movement in the relationship." PTI SH ZH AKJ ZH ZH