Islamabad: Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the Foreign Minister of Pakistan, claimed Prime Minister Imran Khan has “bowled a googly at India by opening the Kartarpur corridor”. He made these remarks at a ceremony in Islamabad to observe the 100-day performance of the Imran Khan-led Pakistani government.
Xinhua also reported Qureshi as saying: “Pakistan will take two steps forward for every one step India takes,” with regard to relations between the neighbouring nations. “Bowling a googly” in cricketing terms means making a deceptive delivery to put the batsman in a difficult position.
India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had earlier remarked that the opening of the corridor could not be taken as resuming the dialogues between India and Pakistan as terror and talks cannot go together. She also turned down Pakistan’s invitation for the SAARC summit citing there would be no dialogue until Pakistan ceases terror activities in India.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan told the Indian media in Islamabad that it was not in Pakistan’s interest to allow its territory to be used for terrorism. There has been a clamp down on the activities of persons like Hafiz Saeed and mentioned him in context of problems that he has inherited.