Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmud Kasuri has said the on-going situation in Iraq will affect public opinion throughout the Islamic world, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported on Tuesday.
"I have a feeling that now people will begin seriously to focus, after Iraq, on why this is fomenting throughout the Islamic World," Kasuri said in an interview with BBC Television.
He said that this is part of the world that was largely colonized. There are outstanding disputes left behind by the colonial legacy which need to be resolved.
These disputes cannot be resolved by ignoring the underline causes, he added.
About the chances of new escalation in tension between India and Pakistan vis-a-vis new Indian charges, the foreign minister said, "We are trying to unravel the factors that go into such carriage."
Pakistan has no motive to increase tension with India, he said, adding, "We have in the past offered India impartial, neutral investigation by any international body. We condemn killing of civilians."
"I attached the highest importance to improvement of relation with India. It is my sincere desire to improve relations with India. But as they say only to entangle we can't do it alone," Kasuri said, referring to his first statement on resuming the office of foreign minister.
(Xinhua News Agency April 1, 2003)
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