Greater chance of peace if Modi wins : says Pakistan PM Imran Khan

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan has said he believes there may be a better chance of peace talks with India and settle the Kashmir issue if Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party BJP wins the general elections.

“Perhaps if the BJP – a right-wing party – wins, some kind of settlement in Kashmir could be reached,” Khan said. Khan said that if the next Indian government were led by the opposition Congress party, it might be too scared to seek a settlement with Pakistan over disputed Indian-controlled Kashmir, fearing a backlash from the right.

Khan said Kashmir was a political struggle and there was no military solution, adding that Kashmiris suffered if armed militants from Pakistan came across the border, leading to Indian army crackdowns.

Mr Modi sent warplanes to bomb Pakistani territory , in retaliation the suicide bombing that killed more than 40 Indian paramilitary police in disputed Kashmir. The two nuclear-armed nations came to the brink of war, as India blamed Pakistan for backing the terrorist group responsible. Calls for retaliation escalated, with Pakistan shooting down an Indian fighter jet in a dogfight.

Despite of such hostilities, Mr Khan said that dialogue would be more likely if the current Hindu nationalist government returned to power.

In the interview, Khan said that Pakistan was taking action against all militant groups, including the JeM. He said that groups like the JeM were being disarmed under a serious drive to eliminate militancy from Pakistan. “We have taken the religious schools of these groups under state control. It is first serious effort to disarm the militant outfits,” he said.

” It was vital for Pakistan to have peace with its neighbours, Afghanistan, India and Iran, if it was to have the kind of economy needed to pull 100 million people out of poverty” he added.

In the meantime, Pakistan’s Information Minister Fawad Choudhary also said his country is ready to hold talks with the next government that comes to power.

In the meantime, Pakistan’s Information Minister Fawad Choudhary also said his country is ready to hold talks with the next government that comes to power.

“Pakistan hopes the election process is completed peacefully and whichever government comes to power, we will sit with them and see how things can moved forward. It is obvious that the atmosphere that developed post-Pulwama and the tensions are not in the interests of the people or the region. It’s important to bring it down and to start the process and take it forward from where it had stopped, but for that we have to wait for the Indian election” – Fawad Choudhary, Information Minister, Pakistan

Imran Khan did appear to offer India an olive  branch, saying that Islamabad was determined to dismantle all Pakistan-based terror groups in the country, and that the government had full support from Pakistan’s powerful army for the programme. Those to be dismantled include groups involved in Kashmir.

Sunidhi Bhatti

Sunidhi Bhatti is a Post graduate in Mass Communications and Electronic Media. She is a young enthusiast who loves to write on political affairs and always satisfied with her work. Besides a content writer, she is a vocalist also.

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