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Pakistan willing to consider returning IAF pilot if it leads to ‘de-escalation’: Qureshi

Islamabad | Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is ready to talk to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi over the telephone to offer him peace, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Thursday.

Qureshi told Geo News that if India gives priority to peace, Pakistan is ready for peace.

“Prime Minister Imran Khan is ready to talk to Narendra Modi on the telephone and ready to extend an invitation of peace. Is Modi ready?” he asked.

“We are ready for every eventuality. If they give priority to peace, we are ready for peace. If they prioritise dialogue, we are ready for dialogue,” Foreign Minister Qureshi said.

Qureshi also confirmed the receipt of India’s dossier on the Pulwama terror attack on February 14 in which 40 CRPF soldiers were killed in an attack claimed by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

“Let’s talk together on the basis of the dossier. I am ready to talk. You want to talk about terrorism, I am ready. You want to talk about peace, I am ready. You want to make it a common challenge, I am ready,” he said.

The dossier handed over by India has “specific details” of the involvement of the JeM in the Pulwama terror attack and the presence of camps of the UN-proscribed terror outfit in Pakistan.

In New Delhi, government sources said that Pakistan must first take concrete and specific anti-terror steps when asked about talks with Prime Minister Khan.

Tensions have escalated between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Pulwama attack by JeM.

India carried out air strikes against the biggest training camp of JeM in Balakot. In the operation, a very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis who were being trained for suicide attacks were eliminated. The facility at Balakot was headed by Yousuf Azhar, the brother-in-law of the JeM chief.

Pakistan on Wednesday claimed it shot down two Indian fighter jets over Pakistani air space and arrested a pilot.

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