Kashmir is an issue, we need to acknowledge it, says Pak Foreign Minister Qureshi

Pakistan's newly-appointed foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said today Kashmir remains an issue and it needed to be acknowledged.

Qureshi's statement came barely an hour after PM Imran Khan appointed his 21-member cabinet.

Addressing reporters, foreign minister Qureshi said: "We need uninterrupted dialogue with India and need to engage."

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Qureshi who was the foreign minister in the PPP cabinet in 2008 when the Mumbai attacks took place, said: "Vajpayee came to Lahore to take stock of the situation," acknowledging the late ex-PM's role in the talks.

"Atal Bihari Vajpayee who is no longer in this world, he came to Pakistan. He came to Lahore and Islamabad and he acknowledged the reality of Pakistan and that Kashmir is our outstanding issue," he said.

"I want to tell the Indian foreign minister that we are not just neighbours, we are atomic powers. We have a lot of common resources," he said.

"Kashmir is an issue, we need to acknowledge it," Pakistan's new foreign minister said.

Qureshi adding that PM Narendra Modi had written a letter to PM Imran Khan in which he indicated the beginning of talks between the two countries, although Indian government sources said it was only a "congratulatory letter" with no new proposal for dialogue.

"India and Pakistan have to move forward keeping realities before them," Qureshideclared.

"These issues are complicated and we may face hurdles in resolving them, but we must engage. We will have to admit that we are facing problems, we must admit that Kashmir is a reality. The Islamabad declaration is a part of our history," he said.

After winning the July 25th elections, Pakistan PM Imran Khan in a televised address had said India and Pakistan need to have good neighbourly relations, asserting that “Kashmir remains our biggest contention."

"The human rights violations over 30 years and the people of Kashmir have suffered massively. The leadership of Pakistan and India now need to come to the table to resolve this and end the blame games," PM Imran had said in his July address to the nation.

"We are stuck at square one. If India comes and takes one step towards us, we will take two steps toward them," Imran said, adding,"Right now it is one-sided where India is constantly just blaming us.”

Imran in his speech had called for better trade relations with India which would be beneficial to both countries while declaring that he was "disappointed" with the Indian media for portraying him as a "villain".

"I am that Pakistani who has travelled through India because of my cricket,” Imran had said.