Monday, August 19, 2013

Teekhi Baat with Salman Khurshid/IBN7/ August 17, 2013




'Nawaz had said openly Pakistan wants good relations'


External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid speaks about UPA2’s security policy and Indo-Pak relations during the Teekhi Baat  on IBN7. Excerpts:

I feel that in UPA 2, diplomacy rules over security policy.
You asked a very tough question. I am saying tough because I want to speak at length on it. I will have to tell things related to security policy which are not normally spoken about. Even the defence minister does not speak those things.
Because the defence minister does not say anything. One feels that the foreign minister is deciding everything.
No, he is very experienced and senior to us, we follow his path. We believe he will take a decision after great thought and deliberation.
You didn’t answer my question.
It is done with discussion and dialogue being dependent on one another. This cannot work separately because security is connected with foreign policy in a big way.
Who should call the shots in the country? Security policy or diplomacy?
Sometimes security policy or diplomacy is in national interest. But diplomacy does not have its own aim. Its aim is aligned with security policy. If foreign policy has a role in taking the country ahead, in the end, it stops as security policy.
With Nawaz Sharif, you felt new people have come with new thinking. You would have felt saddened with the reaction.
We have felt saddened. But something would or would not happen after that. Will they react, send message, will they close the gap between what they say and what they do? Will we see something ahead or not?
Is Nawaz Sharif better than Zardari saab?
What is the old talk on Nawaz Sharif saab? We have seen that a new thinking is awakening in Pakistan. I cannot say today whether it is wrong or right. And to talk about this thinking, Sharif has projection via his manifesto, campaign and talks, when it could be presumed that if he talks positively about India in campaign, then there would be a section of electorate which would oppose him. But despite that, he openly said that they want good relations with India.

No comments: