Leadership change: Imran says Indian polls not Pakistan’s business

PTI chief says Pakistanis will respect the choice of the Indian people.


News Desk December 08, 2013
PTI chief Imran Khan. PHOTO: REUTERS



Pakistan is not worried about who will emerge victorious in the upcoming Indian elections, the head of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan said on Saturday.


“Who gets elected in India is not the business of Pakistan. It is the business of people of India,” Imran told the closing session of the ongoing two-day Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi. But he said that whichever party wins should have a strong leadership.

The leadership summit will be attended among others by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, according to the Hindustan Times.

“We had concerns about a BJP government when it came to power in India for the first time. But they were the ones who reached out to us, it did quite a lot for improving India-Pakistan relationship,” Imran said referring to the NDA government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

In response to the question of how Pakistan was reacting to Narendra Modi, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Imran said, “Pakistan has reservations about Modi because of the riots and the communal violence in Gujarat, but a dialogue is always there between two democracies. If Modi emerges as the choice of the Indian people, we will have to respect that,” he said.



When speaking of Modi, Imran gave the example of slain Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud to illustrate his point that talks do not depend on personalities. “Hakimullah Mehsud was killed on the eve of talks with the Taliban. But if you stand for peace, then it’s not about personalities. When the BJP-led NDA came to power in India, Pakistan was bracing for new hostilities but Atal Behari Vajpayee broke the thaw. So maybe Modi too will moderate extremes if he comes to power.”

Imran also strongly advocated for the revival of peace talks between India and Pakistan, and also suggested the idea of the neighbours jointly running a civil nuclear plant along the border. He said it should be “owned and operated jointly by the two countries and should be supplying power to both the countries”.

Resolving Kashmir

In an interview with the Hindustan Times ahead of the summit, Imran said the resolution of the Kashmir problem is the only way forward for India and Pakistan.

“Everything stems from Kashmir. Both sides must sit down and sort out the Kashmir issue.”

He said that both countries need strong leaders to encourage the peace process.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 8th, 2013.

COMMENTS (1)

Anjaan | 10 years ago | Reply Ik and all fellow Pakistanis need to understand that India's Pakistan policy does not depend on any individual or a political party ... on the issue of Pakistan, the people of India are one and united.
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