ISLAMABAD - Former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said Pakistan wants enduring friendly relations with the United States but could not accept any pressure to compromise its interests and principles.
Published: Tue 22 Feb 2011, 1:22 AM
Updated: Wed 12 Feb 2020, 3:42 PM
Qureshi said US threats of suspending aid could not make Pakistanis compromise on their dignity and integrity. The former foreign minister said though US was more powerful than Pakistan, it should respect the latter’s sovereignty.
“We must keep our heads high with dignity and a sense of sovereign equality and refuse to bend and accept a relationship of servility,” Qureshi said while addressing a large rally on arrival inhome town Multan.
“What is needed today is for us to change the way we think,” he said adding that the US must also realise that the fate of bilateral relations could not be tied to a single incident.
He said Pakistan needs untainted leaders who alone can salvage the country from present crises.
He said his hands are clean and nobody had implicated him in any scandal during his three-year tenure. “I present myself before people’s court,” he said, adding: “Shah Mehmood is not for sale and with his present stance (on Raymond Davis issue) he has also given a clear message that Shah Mehmood can’t be forced to bow down.”
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