Pakistan's Foreign Minister hints at a thaw in ties with US – reports

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Sunday said that relations between Pakistan and United States will take a "new turn" because of its pivotal role in the US-Taliban peace initiatives, reported Dawn. He was addressing a gathering of invitees from the media and supporters from his constituency at the Multan Tea House in Lahore, Pakistan.

Qureshi told the gathering that US-Pakistan relations were going through a strained period because the country had been officially enlisted in the "grey list" of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for failing to act against terror financing on its soil.

"US had placed Pakistan in the grey list of Financial Action Task Force [FATF] and consequently, its relationship with Islamabad was not that great", the media report quoted Qureshi as saying.

"For long the war is underway in Afghanistan and it used to be said that terrorists coming from Pakistan are carrying out terrorist activities in their country", he said. "But because of our successful foreign policy ties between both countries are improving", Qureshi added.

Attributing the possible "new turn" to his nation's behind-the-scenes role, Qureshi said, "Our relations with the US are going to take a new turn. US-Taliban peace dialogues are underway in Doha and positive results are expected".

Speaking about Russia, the Pakistani foreign minister said that the country has played a crucial role in de-escalating tensions between India and Pakistan after India carried out air raids against some alleged terror camps located within Pakistan.

"The role of Russia to de-escalate the recent tensions between Pakistan and India cannot be ignored. Russia categorically announced it is ready to play a role to maintain peace in the region", he said.

(SPUTNIK)