John but i am worried about all you. If anything happens, well hear a voice. Ill ask you to follow me. We are going to go either that door over there or the door behind me. Ell take it down to the street. The stairs are right beside that door. Well take two lefthand turns righthand turn, go over to National Geographic and ill buy ice cream for everybody. We will be fine. Please follow our directions if we have to do anything. A real privilege to have foreign minister qureshi here us. Of a distinguished member pakistan. Hes dedicated his professional life to pakistan. Having a brief downrsation before we came and say, washington doesnt have understanding of pakistan. Its a little look having a television and the power or the noise goes out every 40 seconds and you are figure out what is the story. Ecause too much of our understanding of pakistan is from other controversies other big problems. Afghanistan, pakistan, we call afpak. Indiapakistanhe issue of kashmir. Or now increasingly china and role in pakistan so we look at pakistan as a country. We look at pakistan being in the region a complicated with lots of very complex geopolitics and we dont the nation. So part of our goal today is to unfiltered,you here you know, one of pakistans great leaders whos going to us today about Pakistans National interest, directions, and how pakistan wants the United States its journey. Its going to be a good afternoon, and its going to, say, after the foreign minister gives his remarks, my seth jones and dan unde, are going to come up and join him and theyll engage in a bit of a dialogue and bring you into this conversation. A very important afternoon. So could i ask you with your please m applause, welcome to the stage, his excellency, the foreign minister of pakistan, minister qureshi. [applause] mr. Qureshi good afternoon and for showing up. Hamre for inviting me, id like to thank you for speak center for strategic and international studies. m honored to be at the csis, which enjoys a richly deserved epresentation as a central of excellence with south asian studies. Be with delighted to the distinguished gathering many includes scholars, so familiar and friendly faces. Washington at a critical time, both in our internationally. Here is the unabated human rights and humanitarian crisis kashmir. Eight million kashmiris have een on lockdown for more than five months. There is the peace and reconciliation process thats a crucial phase. In uncertain and regional we believe a strong, stable, thriving partnership is vitally important. On where we are in evolving and how the scenarios impact the pivotal elationship between our two countries. Runs ntral team that through the Foreign Policy choices that pakistan is making seeking peace and development. The link between peace and evelopment is the nseptemberual framework inseptemberual inceptually link. Briefly remind all us friends that this took place in august, 2018. In all the months that have hahns Prime Minister included riority stabilization of the economy, mproved governance, combating corruption, and pursuing social Economic Development calls for 210 million people. With serious interest on conomic turnaround is already discernible. Key indicators are improving. Our International Ratings are upgraded. Pakistan is increasingly ecoming protected as a major Tourist Destination for 2020. S the realities transforming the image is changing as well. This er to sustain National Development effort, we peaceful, external environment for a sustained time. Of let me turn to the region. Right now is a subject upon everyones mind. Fact, my visit to the united wider is one leg of a trip that has previously taken saudi arabia. I have been instructed by the rime minister to convey pakistans message in all three is tehran, real, and washington. Partner will only be a for peace. It will not be a part of any war region. Ties with s close both saudi arabia and iran. We have a special relationship with saudi arabia, with a longstanding tradition of always standing by each other in times of need. E are grateful for the support we got in the early days of our government in managing the headwinds. Similarly, iran is a close neighbor. Border, an historical and cultural links between the two countries together. Know that may not pakistans Embassy Embassy of in washington has also looked after iranian interests United States since revolution. Deeply cognizant of the security nd economic perils that a new war or a military confrontation entails, pakistan has been ready from the outset to support diffusing and removing misunderstandings. The prime tember, minister took an initiative to approach the leadership of the with the concerned in to playing our role facilitating a peaceful solution f differences and dispute through diplomatic means. Pakistan ent phase, welcomes the indication given by states and iran tensions. Late we clearly see space for iplomacy here and we believe this space must be optimally utilized. Interactions, i have consistently called on all maximum o exercise estraint, avoid any further escalating step, diffusing tension and agree to be constructively engaged. We hope our collective endeavors will create an effect as we the parties concerned to go beyond the declared intentions of deescalation and practical steps to preserve the peace. Brink that the world is seeing a glimmer of hope. Our country s know and region will not know a real our afghan brothers and sisters are at peace. Both within and without. We know this because we have with the people of afghanistan. Our encountering with the afghan tragedy did not egin on the morning of september 11, 2001. It began when the first soviet marched into afghanistan in december, 1979. T began when the first become five million afghanistan pakistan. Ame to thats how long the people of pakistan have suffered blowback conflict and instability in afghanistan. Years and counting. Thisontext, just remember, is more than half of our life as nation. Endent let me also add that since 9 11 70 Pakistani Security forces and civilians the ultimate sacrifice with the fight against terrorism. Our economy has suffered over billion in direct economic losses. The indirect costs that the war imposed byrorism has economicg our National Catastrophe is just incalculatable. U. S. Has shed too much blood and spent too much treasure. Of ant to honor the memory our Fallen Soldiers and countrymen by successfully the mission in afghanistan. Akistan has long argued that there is no military solution for afghanistan. One of nister khan was the first leaders in the region ho consistent liad voe indicated a political route towards peace in afghanistan. Is why we welcome President Trumps Bold Initiative for settlement political in afghanistan. In stans positive role facilitating the afghan Peace Process, including the talibanu. S. Talks, is internationally acknowledged. Hope today that 2020 could be the year of peace in afghanistan. Significant ade rogress, much more needs to be done. Atience and perseverance are indispensable. We need to make sure that peace n afghanistan is ultimately a shared responsibility. Pakistan is and will play its alone cannot do all that is needed. And nternational Community Important regional players have to play their part. Time, we have to be vigilant against spoilers. Country in t every the broader region wants to see afghanistan. While we sincerely work for must in afghanistan, we also sharpen our focus on reparations for the postconflict phase. No stan hopes there will be precipitated action and that International Patrol will be and orderly. It is in no ones interest to mistakes of the 1980s. International engagement for reconstruction and sustained development will be pivotal. It would also help create for the return of afghan refugees in pakistan and elsewhere. That the United States and other partners would work we afghanistan as politically mainstream and develop our former areas. Along the pakistan and would benefitrder both sides. Compelling her reason for us to see peace irmly established in afghanistan. Or too long, pakistan and the u. S. Relationship has remained hostage with the afghan issue. Want this to change. Are too u. S. Relations significant and possess too huge to be confined to the afghan prism alone. In afghanistan will help both sides take a fresh look at we can do together to nrich our historic relationship. The present regional scenario lso makes the challenge of complicated. E more we firmly believe the gains made protected and the since january 3 in the region handle in a way that any on the peace t rocess in afghanistan is avoided. Having come this far, there should be o there setbacks. Ance for any Prime Minister khan has always nvisioned a peaceful neighborhood. After winning the elections in promised that if we took one step forward for will take two. Repeated efforts to change the symbolism and historically his relationship. Unfortunately, they have spurnd gesture, driven by myopia, illplaced arrogance, importantly, domestic electoral calculations. Hypernationalism to win elections, india nearly into a he two countries war last february. That is the setback from the rink is almost entirely too strained shown by pakistan and by statesmanlike handling Prime Minister khan of the pilot. D commitment of our peace as a sign of weakness. The d hoped that after indian elections, the parliament maturity. Lay more it would recognize that pakistan fighting should be hunger together rather than other. G each nstead, the government has embarked upon the project of a hindu a into adherence have established disastrous consequences for all in india see. He world to on august 5, india tried to status of disputed kashmir and order its demographic structure. All Relevant International laws and violating Security Council resolutions in the process. Break as been seeking to the will of the kashmiri people them in their homes and imposing a that ications blockade continues to this day. Housands of kish miris, particularly young boys, have been imprisoned,ing tortured, as 9 haveren as young not been spared. He indian narrative that kashmirs internal part is being on the by Security Council agenda. Case, why e not the would the french president raise t with the indian Prime Minister . Equally insulting, the ntelligence of the World Community is bizarre in the argument that it is for economic kashmiris. Of the yes, Economic Development being over red at gunpoint by 900,000 occupation troops. If not addressed, the crisis in ashmir has the potential to become a flashpoint between the wo countries with strategic capabilities. When the kashmir crisis began in august, Prime Minister khan warned the world about the nexus with the fascist ideology. Some of our friends felt we were exaggerating. Prime minister khans by ing is being vindicated everybody a and recognizes that. He mask has slipped and the reality of the world view is fully exposed. Shutdown in s kashmir is already the longest democracy. D by a if today we can the passage citizen Amendment Act and the National Register of raising fundamental ideals s about the founding that indias father advocated. Attic of aps symptom the divergent tragedy of our two ountries that when the Indian Supreme Court was handing over historic n which the mosque had once stood in iodia, samedue religious fanatics that had raised the mosque to ground in 1992, pakistan was corridor. E indian state terrorism and of Indian Occupied kashmir and the governments religious hatred and presency frenzy in india dangerous implications in the region. This indian get, government has history of externalizing its problems. Only need to cast your mind back to the episode. In runnup to the elections last ear when india sought to deceive the world by never lives. Stream of we fear we are once again reaching such crisis. Day, some new indian official or military against eiled threat pakistan. Meanwhile, we all follow reports police re of indian officer singh whose footprint is now being seen in some major terrorist attack, which india and blamed strated on pakistan. We have been consistently the world to know about another false flag operation pakistan in a they were occupied by two mill stands on dele in delhi. Celebrations should not be lost on anyone. Our government wants peace in neighborhood. We want we need peace in achieving our on domestic agenda for Economic Development. Any e will not pay for india. Ith e know that President Trump is profoundly worried by the kashmir situation and we welcome repeated offers of mediation kashmir ing the dispute. The United States alone commands south asia spect in dispute e the longest on the u. N. Agenda. Minister told President Trump last july, the United States will have the gratitude over two billion eople in south asia if it did so. We hope President Trump is successful in realizing his goal a lasting e contribution with substantial asia. In south hat could be his enduring legacy. Pakistanu. S. Relationship has mutual erved our interests. We often hear u. S. Officials say has much to gain by working with the United States. That is undoubtedly true. But what is also true is that also has much es to gain by working with pakistan. Is what history of our teaches us. We appreciate the assistance the United States has historically as ided us in the areas diverse as agriculture, energy, education. D the United States played a Critical Role in building our base as well as defense capacity during the the 1960s. Ut pakistan also contory butted contributed immensely by helping the United States war, including acilitating u. S. China which decisively tipped the balance in favor of the free world. Pakistan would not have achieved success it did in fighting terrorism without assistance states. United but equally, al qaeda would not shadow of its former self today if pakistan had not helped campaign against its leadersh leadership. Frustrations ared with with afghanistan, lets not forget that the terrorist the ization that attacked United States on the horrible 2001 is morning in diminished today. This is our joint success. Pakistan desires a relationship with the United States that is mutual respect, mutual benefit. And mutual while we continue work with the nited states for peace in afghanistan and for security in ourafghanistan war region, relationship should be larger han afghanistan and counterterrorism. It is also a concern for us that tendency to owing view pakistanchina relations contemporaryens of geopolitics. Remind you that pakistans relationship with maybe as old as our relationship with the United States. Pakistanchina elationship disports the picture. For too long, we have lamented connectivity between the regional economies now in the form of cpac. We have a project that will help economy develop Economic Development goals and to economic us integration in south and central asia. Being suspicious of cpac, supporters of peace in the should welcome the project. The talk of transitions, for a ments, the logic trong pakistanu. S. Relationship is inarguable. Peace in curing afghanistan, we have strategic onvergence on preserving safe and stability in Southeast Asia investment ludes ties. Pakistan is a nation of over 200 whom are ople, 2 3 of under 30 years of age. We sit at the crossroads of china, south and central asia. Market of another three billion people. Is economic potential immense. Trading is our major partner and a significant source of revenues. More ld like to create trade and investment pportunities for both countries. Indeed, when President Trump and Prime Minister khan met in in july, President Trump had spoken of increasing 20 times. Energydeficient country. The u. S. Is emerging as a big supplier. For new found had reason our two countries to cooperate and collaborate. One millionplus pakistani americans remain a the two tween countries. Always i americans have been High Achievers in the areas of professional endeavor. But what has struck me this pakistani more Young Americans are politically engaged. Case earlier. E as a politician, im always people who young have a passion for public engagement. Civic this innate yearning for democratic participation among pakistani americans is a reminder of the many values that from their identities. Values commonality of that is ultimately the bedrock relationship, friends are precious commodities. Not turn ones back on because one has made new ones. Reiterate, in our common stability, security, and prosperity, pakistan and the United States have much to gain working together. I thank you for your attention and will be happy to take any questions if you may. [applause] thank you, foreign minister. Have a seat in the middle. Well flank you. My ambassador is an advisor at csis and has been a real partner. We wouldnt be able to do the work we do on pakistan without the ambassador. Foreign minister, thanks for being here and thanks for your very complete speech. I think it was i think it was very complete and covered a lot agree with you when we make new friends, we shouldnt turn our back on old friends. A very Important Message for us here in we as things change in the region. Seth and i have several you. Ions for i wrote an article on about our relationship and i suggest we need to base our relationship with pakistan on something other afghanistan. I really liked your phrase, our pakistan is with being held hostage with afghanistan. Thats an eloquent way of saying it. I think its right. Reset our e can relationship is through economic ties. I think were agreement on that. About and you talked some of the opportunities. I dont think we talk enough opportunities that the United States has with pakistan. You talk about energy. Hope you might talk about several others because i think avid agriculturist. Talk about agriculture, tourism. As aps there are others well. I think thats where we need to be resetting our relationship nd you indicated that in your remarks. R. Qureshi let me begin with agriculture. E are an economy with a lot of potential. Operation istory of in agriculture. The first green revolution that in pakistan in the 960s was helped by the United States. We got seed from here. Here. Scientists from for e jointly collaborated the ordinary pakistani working the land. Today, need another collaboration. At the pakistan, look location. Pakistan is sitting right in the of an area which has high has insecurity. Advancements in agriculture hrough seed development, through new research can mmediately enhance our productivity. Activity, we ent are generating enough for and we can have surplus with new technology and research. The potential of the wider region. You have the gulf on one side. Central asia. For the investments Food Processing industry, can, can be a hub stan your products going out to other countries. Argue you could ouble or triple your production, thats not an unrealistic statement . Thats a realistic statement. If we bridge the gap of averagevity between the and the progressive farmer, our roductions get doubled immediately. Daniel i am an enormous fan of spaki the fruit, the mango. Off. Your socks blow your socks off, delicious. So foreign minister, there are other things too. Me take advantage. We spend so much time. Were going to talk a lot about security. Let me double click on this a more. Bit talk about talk about tourism. Country brands change. If we were sitting in this room said, lets and i go visit croatia, people would ay, no, i dont want to go to croatia. Now they are dying to go to croatia. I want to go to colombia. I went fishing in colombia nine ago. There is enormous tourism in your country. The speaker pro tempore if i for the audience. I mentioned to you earlier, foreign minister. Swat was i was in the about 10 years ago and the was situation there was a tough one. There was active combat. But one of the things when i swat at that time that i promised myself, the next time i would come back would be to go skiing. Daniel im going with you. He speaker pro tempore thats an example of my commitment to tourism in pakistan. Assure shi well, i can you, the dramatic improvement of and all over the in point. A case actually go and ski. It is possible. Identified as en the 10 Top Destinations of tourism in 2020. People are hospitable. The only problem was the environment. Changed and its changed for the better. Hat we need is investment in infrastructure. Up, ously as the numbers go as the appetite grows, investors attracted. We are talking to the turks. They have done well in tourism. Talking to the middle easterns. Hey generate over 20 billion to tourism. Why cant we do it . Possible. At is and increase the gamut. Taking on the motion of tourism, i think, well not jobs, because it will help jobs. It will also change the image of the country. What we are suffering from is an problem. Eople that travel to pakistan, congressman, all ordinary citizens that traveled to pakistan, once they have with a , they returned different view, with a different image. What they read, what they see on go and on, when they meet people and see for themselves, its a different story. Repeat, country brand can change. Indonesia, 1998. Going to i like indonesia. Great place. Panama, 1989. I like going there. Of people go there. Croatia, 1995. Great place. There on a tour boat. Colombia, 1999. I went fishing, deep sea fishing. There is no reason in the world of the country brand pakistan cant and wont change. And i actually think with the right nvestments and Political Leadership the country brand is going to change. Give the floor. The one thing i always thought, foreign minister, is that the saudi uld be arabia of hydropower. Talked about liquified natural gas. We have gas. For that. Ness you have enormous potential Energy Sources in your own country. Talk a little bit about that. Think thats another investment opportunity. Mr. Qureshi we have a huge hydrogen ration. You hydro generation. Identified a number of sites can generate that energy. Stored water for agriculture. Is we have we have a lean period and we have a period. Rplus what we require is storages for period. Is nvestments in hydrodams the way forward. There is a huge potential. Cheaper, environmentally riendly, and we dont have to import. The energy that we have, you the deficiencyme in the crisis we were facing was very lation of it is expensive. Does not pollute the environment. Expensive. Thats affecting our cost of production. Where we can tep move very quickly. Nfortunately, there was some political wrangling on which and cts to undertake whatnot to undertake. I think weve overcome the hump identified a number of sites where there is a olitical consensus and the council of common interests which is a body that represents units of federating the country have agreed to. That is the potential. Here again, investments and echnology from the west can be utilized. Daniel i am going to sand over to seth, but we are i am seth but and over to we are going to take questions index cards and pencils. Start thinking about questions and seth and i will sort them out and ask the questions to the foreign minister so my colleague will be passing them down. Pencils down and get and well collect them in about 10 or 15 minutes. Seth, over to you. Me speaker pro tempore let first just echo one of the tatements you made earlier and dan did as well, that the conversation, including in washington, over the past two focused as predominantly on security. It is long since time for that conversation to business, commercial ties, trade, and thats an healthier nd a much longterm relationship. That. Ully support we should have had this conversation long ago. Ut let me turn to one of the issues that we are here for and talking to folks in saudi arabia and in iran itself and that is the increased tensions with your neighbor, particularly u. S. Iranian tensions. You have talked recently, either in person or by phone, to the saudis, to the russians, among others. Questions that your thoughts would be very important ere is, first, what are your concerns about escalation here from your ious, perspective, would escalation be impacted gulf of the or broader rmuz tension in the region . And the second question is, one of the things you and others talked about is a term called maximum restraint. That mean in the sense of what steps have you been to individuals about that could deescalate the situation . Minister qureshi well, t goes without saying that aspiration is not just dangerous. Disastrous. Middle east, in that part of the enough conflicts. From the impression that i drew engagement that i had with different Foreign Ministers want, e region does not conflict. Eed another and when there were statements side, which ranian would not escalate in nature, and the address of the president of january which deescalation i hought had created space for diplomacy. And that space should be to avoid a imally region. In the f so nobody wants another conflict in the region. The second part was he speaker pro tempore what is seth what are dress latory steps you would consider . The deescalatory steps you would consider . Would want to know the perspective you heard from view , how do they deescalating the situation . Iran . Id you hear from foreign minister qureshi i no mood for e in conflict. They do not want a war. Has feel that enough blood been shed. Sayinghink they are also sanctions imposed irani. Rting the ordinary secondly, the policies that they pursuing have now in a way pushed them into some kind of an insulation and thats not for them. So its time to reengage. To reengage, they would have to revisit some of that they were pursuing. What i deduce from the i had over s that there, that they are willing to do that. Willing to stop all region, and the they have said, ok. These are the five areas which of difference we have with other countries in the neighborhood. Willing to sit and talk about all of them. Sit and talk to about the past. Theously when we talk about past, it will be bitter. Ed prefer to talk about the future. F that realization is dawning, think it should be encouraged and pressure has been exercised. Sent. R message has been but pressure beyond a certain counterproductive. Get into a reactionary that should be avoided. Eth your country of pakistan has 70 of your population are young people ands a a percentage your as a percentage of population of young people, you have the highest percentage of people of any country in the world. That is either a Demographic Dividend. If you have if folks have and theyre trained and then theres jobs for these oung people, its an enormous eaf graphic dividend Demographic Dividend. Weve seen that in the 1960s. Going say that china is through its Demographic Dividend now and its about to end. Really, pakistan is about to hit could hit if it plays its right, invest in education, training, skills and investment. On the other hand, young people an use their energy for four things. They can either use their energy formal icipating in the economy in jobs. They can use their energy for education. Use their energy, depending on the country context of joining gangs in places like america or here in the United States. R joining various kinds of bad actors. Or they can migrate. To me in my hypothesis where they can put their energy, places. E the four id like them to put their or gy into door number one door number two. So what steps are you taking, your government, what steps are taking . Ernment we talked about investment. We talked about the economic opportunities. It. s a part of but how are you thinking about ducation and training to make sure that the United States as a shared interest with pakistan that a more than 100 people and more than that channel their energies in a way that other parts of energies eled their and thats the enormous Demographic Dividend for world, how are you getting ready for that . Youth minister qureshi interest. They are very bright. Many of them have been to abroad. Ties they are exposed. They are very supportive of democracy. You know, they have strengthened values. Ic they believe in freedoms. Freedom of expression. Critical. They are objective. Potential. E full of so how do we harness that and convert it into a positive effort . Government has a clear agenda and thats why i to our focus when we came government was peace in the neighborhood. Hy do you want peace in the neighborhood . We want peace in the neighborhood so that we can people. In we can invest in education. We can invest in health. We can invest in improving the of ordinary fe people. Clean drinking water, sanitation, these are the that we are facing. Nd peace could be a dividend that could allow us to focus on areas. Training. Vocational training. To focus re we have on. Degrees. Giving them but giving them skills that they employed. Infully how many jobs can government offer . Government department is saturated. So the private sector in 10 jobs in the world is private sector. Minister qureshi the private sector has to be the engine of growth. One has seen i was in japan countries. Ropean there is a grain population over there. Hey are looking they are looking for people who have keep their economic momentum going. Are we ready . Are we preparing to fill that need . Our government is focusing on that. We are focusing on that. Focusing on education. A fresh look at ur curriculum because having successfully defeated terrorism, strategy to ve a reverse extremism. N order to reverse extremism, the best weapon to do that is education. Educate our young minds, give them gainful on oyment, i think we are the right track. E have seen youngsters, pakistani, whether they have come to the u. S. , they have gone to europe, england, they have well for themselves. They have been peaceful. Abiding, and n law they have, you know, from of them have been Success Stories. If there can be Success Stories thereby hy cant Success Stories at home . The potential is there. Not spend enough time, enough money, enough attention social sectors. We need to do that. Peace on both d sides. On the western side, we worked hopefully we have our fingers crossed. There is a ray of hope. On the eastern side, we want the lization, but it seems indian side is not looking at objectively as they should. Of we wantigns through t issues dialogue. Daniel are we collecting the csis . Ons, team seth let me pick up the issue to the , particularly west, which you noted. Daniel sorry. Im getting my east and west. For the Television Audience what do you mean by east and west . Afghanistan. Daniel the question. Seth i want to talk about and i think anybody who has looked hiss tore cloor the historically at the region, and you mentioned 1979, pakistan was impacted immediately by the the refugee on and flows and the threat to pakistan invasion came t and the u. S. Worked closely with after that in support f the mujaheddin in afghanistan. The u. S. Worked closely with months in the days and after 9 11 in afghanistan. Been have obviously periods of tension since then, but i think we are now at a prospectere there is a for settlement. So what i so what i wanted to ask are two questions here. One is, how serious because this is a subject of some discussion here how serious from your perspective are the taliban about negotiations . They seem quite emboldened on the battlefield. How serious are they about negotiations . And the second issue is, what do you see as some of the key areas where additional progress needs to be made, whether its ceasefires, the afghan constitution, ties to terrorist organizations, where do we need to move and focus energy . We came very close several months ago to a meeting at camp david and that was called off. But if we were to try to get back to that period, what would you suggest . Foreign minister qureshi in my view, the taliban are pragmatic in their spot. Theyre not foolish. They also theyre also fatigued. Lets not forget theyve been fighting seth we all are. Foreign minister qureshi we all are. Theyve also been fighting for too long. And i think theres a realization, in my view, that if we expect things to go back to hat they were, afghanistan has changed considerably. And they would have to adjust to that new change. You cannot anymore deprive women from education. Daniel theres three Million Girls in school. Foreign minister qureshi thats not doable and thats not acceptable, right . Today there is democracy and people are getting used to democracy, right . You can always argue about how fair, how credible the election process has been. But it can always improve with the passage of time. So you cannot move away from that. What they should be encouraged to do is, if they are so popular, if people so like them, they should be part of the mainstream. And get themselves elected, participate in politics, use the ballot box, and advocate for what they are advocating. Mandate what theyre doing. And i think that realization is setting in. Give up violence. If the they continue to do what theyll be doing what theyve been doing, there will be a stalemate at best. There will be no winners. Everybody in the region will lose. And they will not gain. So this new, new realization is setting in. And this should be encouraged further. Seth if i can peel back this one layer. As we look at past Peace Processes, we have seen groups like those in el salvador and weve seen groups like the i. R. A. In Northern Ireland participate in the Peace Process as part of negotiations. Or after negotiations. So is it your sense that the taliban would be interested or would be willing or some senior members of the group would be willing to participate in elections in the country, serve in ministries, not in a solely taliban government, but one that was shared more broadly . Foreign minister qureshi you see, today, the way the country s divided, it seems to fulfill that one faction can dominate the rest. You have different ethnicities living there. You have your uzbeks and others. So they will have to, if they want their country to stabilize and prosper, they will have to reconcile. And thats why it is the process is not just peace, its peace with reconciliation. Reconciliation to a new reality. And that is what is required. One. Secondly, as you said, you were there and then you left. We feel that this time there will be even if theres a successful agreement, challenges will remain there. So the United States and its friends and Coalition Partners will have to have a more responsible withdrawal and they should remain engaged, not to fight, but to rebuild. Seth so the u. S. Should remain engaged . Foreign minister qureshi they should remain engaged because if they do not remain engaged, afghanistan will not be able to sustain seth that was the mistake in the 1980s. Foreign minister qureshi yes. Do not repeat the 1980s. Do not learn from the 1980s. They will need investments they will need money investments, they will need money. How will they support their existing infrastructure without International Help . Seth so weve got some really good questions, weve got some time to take some of them. Why dont i start and then so we have several questions about how does pakistan see itself visavis the relations between china and the United States . Daniel you talked about it. I think, especially in the light of cpac. Foreign minister qureshi well, u. S. China story to relationship and lets not forget, pakistan played a constructive role in bringing you together. You t, that is what gave the strength, that gave the strength to the free world to check the onslaught of communism, right . Pakistan, its not a zerocome game. Weve had, as we have very close relations with china, and we have a historic linkage with the u. S. Akistan can be a binder, not a divider. For example, the project that youre discussing, the cpac project. , the s not a project Economic Zones were building along the project, theyre not exclusive for chinese investment. By all means, we would encourage and we want european and American Investments there. You come and see for yourself, see the potential, and take advantage of that. So its not that the americans and the europeans are not welcome there. You are welcome. And you can be part of that. And you can benefit from nvestment. So pakistan can be an important bridge builder. We were, we still can. Daniel great. Seth, why dont you ask him a couple of questions. Seth yep. Let me start with this one. The first question here is noting the protest movements that weve seen in iran. I would also add lebanon, iraq and a few other countries. And so the question here is, how does pakistan view the sustained protests, including in iran, and are you concerned at all about similar protests at some point in the future in pakistan . Foreign minister qureshi well, depends what kind of protests. People protest because for economic peace, at times people protest because they want jobs. At times people protest because of price hikes. Obviously, you know, we are interested in stabilizing the economy so that our youth is gainfully employed, we can check prices, we can check inflation and we inherited a very difficult situation when we came into office in august, 2018. All major Macro Economic indicators were wrong, were pointing in the wrong direction. We have successfully negotiated a new program with the i. M. F. And its moving in the right direction. Hopefully things would improve and things would stabilize and that cause for protest will vanish. Then there are other kinds of protests. Theres an ideological in nature. We, as i said, we are dealing with them. Of ve initiated a program reform. Reform of our seminaries. Why . Because youre dealing with a mindset. And we are introducing modern education indemnify. We are introducing vocational education. So that boys more than girls are being educated and they are quite a big number being educated there. They have a few father they have a future for themselves and they cannot be picked up as gun fodder by extremist elements. So we are conscious of that and were planning accordingly. Seth so this is another question and ill just read it. In december, 2018, the state department designated pakistan a criff particular concern country of particular concern. Whats your reaction, what steps is pakistan taking to address this . Foreign minister qureshi particular concern visavis . Religious freedom . Seth yeah, religious freedom. Foreign minister qureshi i baffled when we saw that. Because if you come to pakistan today and, you know, as i said, youre welcome to do so, you will see we are a multiethnic, multicultural society. Were a pluralistic society. And you will see minorities protected under law by the constitution. Is a general attitude accommodating. You can see churches functioning, you can see temples functioning. Theres a big initiative, a big message for the Sikh Community to come over and visit their holy shrines. Theyre welcome to do that. So theres nothing of the sort. There is no single discriminatory law in place. In fact, in fact, if you look at things today, why are people in india today protesting . They are protesting against a new piece of legislation which they feel is discriminatory in nature and the discrimination is based on religion. On religion. Only the muslims have been focused. The christians are allowed, sikhs are allowed. But only muslims, you know. And that is creating a lot of frack us over there. And many hindus with a progressive mind have said, this is wrong. This is not what secular india stood for. And this is what this regime is changing the color, the view and the image of india in pakistan. In fact, if there was some concern, that concern should have been expressed there and not here. There is no justification for this concern. Seth last question. What is the solution in your mind to the kashmir challenge . In two minutes or less. [laughter] foreign minister qureshi ok. Its a complicated question and you want a simplistic answer. The simplistic answer is, youre a democracy. You believe in democratic values. Why dont you advocate those values exercised in kashmir . Give them the right of selfdetermination. Let them decide what they want. Do they want to be with india . Are they happy there . So be it. And if they so decide, we should, you know, stop harping on that. Do they want to be with pakistan . If so, accept it. Let democracy you have promised the indians have promised the International Community that they will give them the right. You believe in democracy. Lets find a democratic way out. Daniel ok. Please join me in thanking the foreign minister. This was great. Please come back. [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] for the third time in history, a president is on trial in the u. S. Senate. The impeachment trial of President Trump began today. The house impeachment managers walked to the Senate Chamber to farmally present the articles of impeachment against President Trump which the house approved on december 18. Once in the Senate Chamber, House Intelligence Committee chair adam schiff read the two articles detailing President Trumps alleged abuse of power and obstruction of justice. Earlier, chief Justice John Roberts was sworn in for the trial, along with senators who then signed the oath book at the clerks desk. Chief Justice Roberts is presiding over the senate trial which resumes tuesday at 1 00 p. M. Eastern. Follow live Senate Impeachment coverage on cspan2. The impeachment of President Trump. Watch unfiltered coverage of the senate trial on cspan2, live as it happens. And sameday reairs. Follow the process ondemand at cspan. Org impeachment. And listen on the go using the free cspan radio app. Over the next two weeks, on q anderson a, were focusing on q a, were focusing on the New Hampshire president ial primary and the iowa caucuses. Sunday night, longtime New HampshireUnion Leader Publisher and now editor at large talks about his states president ial primary history. And the current state of politics in New Hampshire. New hampshires always different. I think it appreciates being first and people turn out. Its one of the highest turnout states, at least in primaries, in the country. Not f it was so, you know, representative of the country, then with the exception of bloomberg, who has not cited that as a reason, but why are all these other candidates coming to