Did Pakistan minister insult Sushma Swaraj's health with 'pale' jibe?

After Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj snubbed her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi at the SAARC meeting on Thursday, the latter has made unprofessional comments about Swaraj.

"I was quite concerned when I saw the minister for external affairs, when I was in the room she looked pale to me," Qureshi said while laughing. "She looked very worried. I wish, I wish we could have smiled at each other."

Qureshi made the comments after Swaraj refused to interact with him at the South Asian Association Regional Cooperation (SAARC) ministerial meeting, held along the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. After making her statement, she left the meeting early, prompting criticism from Qureshi who later told reporters, "no I didn't have any talk with her (Swaraj). On the positive gesture, I can say she left the meeting mid-way, may be she was not feeling well".

Qureshi's comments on Saturday did not elicit laughter from many in the crowd. Reports said a large number of people in the crowd were of Pakistani descent.

Qureshi added, "I could see the immense strain and when she left, she wasn't even willing to engage with the media. I had no problem, but I could see the pressure, but I could see the political pressure on her, politics, nothing else, politics, domestic politics."

After the SAARC meeting on Thursday Qureshi told Pakistani media that may be Sawaraj was feeling unwell, according to Samaa TV. However, Swaraj went on to hold her scheduled meetings with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Walid al Muallem.

Indian diplomatic said that it was quite normal in a multilateral meeting to leave early after one has delivered the country's statement. The sources said that Swaraj was not the first minister to leave the meeting as her counterparts from Afghanistan and Bangladesh had also left before her.

They added that Swaraj had other engagements as well and Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale was present throughout the SAARC meeting.

Swaraj and Qureshi were slated to meet on the sidelines of the General Assembly session.

However, India called off the meeting last week, citing the brutal killings of three policemen in Jammu and Kashmir and Islamabad releasing postage stamps "glorifying" slain Kashmiri militant Burhan Wani.

Qureshi has also said that India's "domestic political and electoral compulsions" were behind New Delhi's reluctance to talk to the new government in Islamabad. "Why are they reluctant? Simply politics, elections...they are scared of the electorate. They have swung the pendulum to such an extreme (that), now they're finding it difficult to bring it back. And (with) the elections round the corner, they (Indian government) felt that it could boomerang," Qureshi said on Friday.

It was sad to see how "a regional forum (SAARC) had become hostage" to the needs of one nation, he added.

The Pakistani foreign minister, who is scheduled to meet the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday, said, "Today, India is a strategic partner of the US. We have no qualms about it. But we feel that Pakistan is an ally who has always stood with the US."

Qureshi said whenever Pakistan stood with the US, it has benefited America. "Whether it was the Cold War, the Soviet invasion or the 9/11 terror attack, we were the ones to stand with the US and collectively we decimated that evil," he said.

He said the Trump Administration will miss an opportunity if it does not engage with the new government of Pakistan.

Qureshi also sought US intervention in the Indo-Pak talks. "If the US wants us to help, and we want to help in our own interest because we want peace in the region, then they (America) have to tell the new strategic partner (India) to give us ease on the eastern side so that we can concentrate on areas of mutual interest," he said.

Pakistan has been consistently seeking US intervention in Indo-Pak talks. However, successive US governments have refused to entertain such a request asserting that it is for the two neighbours to decide on the pace and scope of the talks. India has also made it clear that no third party has any role in India-Pakistan relations.

(With inputs from PTI)