Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that Pakistan’s efforts for peace were mistaken by India as weakness and that entire South Asia is hostage to the Kashmir issue.
Speaking at the Islamabad Conclave 2021, with the theme of “Peaceful and Prosperous South Asia”, Khan also emphasised that Pakistan tried to reach out to India for peace but without any positive response.
He said that after the Kashmir dispute is solved, other issues could be jointly tackled including smog and pollution. “Until both countries don’t sit together, no matter how much we do in Lahore [to control smog] we will only solve half the problem, he said.
“It is with regret I have to say that we tried our best to have talks with India, I called [Prime Minister] Narendra Modi. Despite all the overtures we made, I slowly realised that he thought this was our weakness. There was some other reaction to all our efforts for peace, they were thinking Pakistan is making efforts for peace since it is very weak,” he said.
Up Against An Ideology
Khan contended it was “unfortunate that we were not interacting with the government of a normal India, we were competing with an ideology”.
He further said: “Our problem is only Kashmir and that problem can’t be resolved through guns and bombs. It can be resolved only through dialogue, and its solution is political dialogue…Whatever India is trying through the use of guns, strong arm tactics and repression of Kashmiris will never succeed.”
Khan also said that both Pakistan and India were vulnerable to climate change.
“Our futures are connected. We both should focus on climate change together but till now I’m not seeing that seriousness in world leaders because their commercial interests are clashing with steps needed to stop climate change,” he said.
Tensions between India and Pakistan have spiked since New Delhi abrogated the Article 370 of the Constitution to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019.
India has categorically told the international community that the scrapping of the Article 370 was its internal matter. It also advised Pakistan to accept the reality and stop all anti-India propaganda.
‘Emerging Cold War’
He also trashed the emerging Cold-War mentality and said that his country did not want to be a part of any political bloc but instead wanted to play a role in bridging the gaps between the United States and China.
Khan talked about the threat of a new Cold War between China and the US as well as his vision for peace in the region.
“The situation is going towards a (new) Cold War and blocs are forming, Khan said. “Pakistan should try its best to stop the formation of these blocs because we should not become a part of any bloc.”
He said that the world as well as Pakistan suffered due the rivalry between the superpowers in the past and it was against any new confrontation.
He said Pakistan tried to reduce tension between arch-rival Saudi Arabia and Iran and both countries appreciated that we tried our best during a very critical phase where conflict could have occurred between them.”
Khan said that Pakistan enjoyed good ties with China and the US, and wanted to play a similar role in the current tension in US-China relations to “stop their growing distances”.
The relations between the US and China are at an all-time low. The two countries are engaged in a bitter confrontation over various issues, including trade, Beijing’s aggressive military moves in the disputed South China Sea and human rights in Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjiang region.