India never responded to Pak peace overtures: FM.

Byline: SHAFQAT ALI

ISLAMABAD -- Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi yesterday said that India never responded sincerely to Pakistan's peace overtures.

Speaking at the Business Leaders Summit here, Qureshi said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had offered New Delhi a hand of friendship and asked for foreign ministers meeting on the sidelines of UN General Assembly to resolve all outstanding issues between the two countries through dialogue but India declined the offer.

The foreign minister said that Pakistan has taken several peace initiatives and Kartarpur Corridor was one of them. However, he said, India never responded positively to Pakistan's peace efforts.

The minister said that Pakistan was increasing bilateral trade with Iran, China and other countries of the region. Qureshi said China 'is our strategic partner and we want to transform this relationship into an economic partnership.'

He said that Pakistan wanted peace in Afghanistan and the government was facilitating peace process in the country. The FM said that the topmost priority of the government was to revitalize the national economy.

He said when Prime Minister Imran Khan ascended to power last year, he inherited a lot of challenges, including corruption, flight of capital, and other socio-economic ills, which had to be overcome.

Qureshi said that the PTI's economic team, under the leadership of Finance Minister Asad Umar, had taken many steps for economic uplift of the country during the first six...