War not an option for Pakistan against India, says Pak foreign minister

New York, Sept 29: Pakistan is at the crossroads when cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan took over as its prime minister. The country is witnessing its relations with neighbours India and tested ally - the United States - under strain and the Khan government has a massive responsibility of addressing both.

Recently, Khan himself expressed frustration over India's decision to cancel talks between the two countries' foreign minister on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), even going to the extent of calling the Indian rulers as "small men". India's move came after three lawkeepers lost their lives in rebels' attack in Kashmir.

Pakistan's new Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, however, is in no mood to escalate things with India. The 62-year-old leader, who was at the annual opening of the UNGA here, spoke to Al Jazeera on Thursday, September 27, about the challenges that the Khan government in Pakistan faces. Both Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) are comparatively inexperienced in governance and many thought that was showing in the prime minister's outburst against the Narendra Modi government.

Referring back to his prime minister's public address which was made soon after the elections were held in Pakistan on July 25 and in which Khan said Pakistan would take two steps towards peace if India took one, Qureshi said the only solution for India-Pakistan issues is dialogue. He also pointed to PM Khan's requests for peaceful dialogue between the two nuclear-powered neighbours.

"What we did.. we thought made sense. Two neighbours with outstanding issues, atomic powers. How do you fix things? War is no option. There is no military solution. The only solution is a dialogue," Al Jazeera quoted Qureshi as saying.