Prime Minister Imran Khan Tuesday dismissed the notion of any nuclear war between Pakistan and India, saying his country will give up its weapons if its eastern neighbour does the same.
In an interview with the Fox News, the prime minister responded in affirmative when asked, “If India said we will give up nuclear weapons, will Pakistan?” “Yes, because nuclear war is not an option. And between Pakistan and India, the idea of nuclear war is actually self-destruction, because we have two and a half thousand-mile border,” he replied. “Also, I think there’s a realisation in the subcontinent and there was some incident that happened last February and we again had tension at the border,” he added.
Imran Khan told Bret Bier of the Fox News that it is this very ‘realisation’ that he has asked President Trump to play his role in resolution of Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan. “The only reason for 70 years that we have not been able to live like civilised neighbours, is because of Kashmir,” he said.
When asked to comment about the response from India’s foreign ministry which said ‘no request has been made by Prime Minister Modi to President Trump on Kashmir’, Prime Minister Imran Khan said, “I really feel that India should come on the table.” He said the two countries have not been able to move ahead bilaterally. He recalled that only on one occasion, Prime Minister Vajpayee and President Musharraf did come close to a resolution, but since then the two countries have been polls apart. “The US can play a big part, President Trump certainly can play a big part. We’re talking about 1.3 billion people on this earth. Imagine the dividends of peace if somehow this issue is resolved,” he said.
Imran Khan categorically dismissed any concerns about Pakistan’s nuclear weapons getting into the hands of terrorists. “Pakistan has one of the most professional armies … we have one of the most comprehensive command and control of our nuclear weapons,” he said. “They have absolutely no need to worry,” he said. “The United States knows about it because we share our intelligence with the US about the way we have the safety measures about our nuclear programme,” he added.
Imran Khan says ISI gave information to CIA that led to location of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad
To a question about Iran wanting a nuclear weapon, Imran Khan said, “I can’t say […] but as a neighbour of Iran, we certainly hope that this does not become a full-blown conflict.” He said being a neighbour, Pakistan will love to help if his country is asked to. “The last thing we want is a conflict in Iran, which will obviously affect us. Not just us, but it will affect oil prices, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia. We will do anything for a peaceful resolution,” he said.
When asked to react on remarks made by President Donald Trump regarding Afghanistan and clearing it out in 10 days, Prime Minister Imran Khan said there is no doubt that the United States has the greatest firepower in the history of mankind, but said it will be devastating as the people of Afghanistan have suffered for decades of conflict and a number of people have died as well. “The last thing Afghanistan needs is violence. It needs peace.” he said.
“The Taliban should become a part of political process and then you will have a government which will be representative of the people of Afghanistan,” Imran said. Asked whether the discussions with Taliban were productive? Imran said these were the ‘most productive so far’.
Referring to the remarks made by former US secretary of defence James Mattis in which he said the US intelligence believed that there would be some sort of attack from some of the terrorist groups based in the Afghanistan, the prime minister said the US has no issues of Taliban ever attacking any other country outside of Afghanistan. “Taliban is a localised movement, not an international terrorist movement.” He expressed the belief that if there is a broad-based political government, that will be the best guarantee that there will be no groups that will threaten the United states or other western countries.
Pakistan and India couldn’t live like civilised neighbours during last 70 years only because of Kashmir
When asked about the recent bombing in Pakistan claimed by the local Taliban, Prime Minister Imran Khan said the danger is there for Pakistan and Afghanistan. “If we do not have any sort of peace settlement in Afghanistan, the danger is of ISIS. And ISIS is more of a danger not just to us, but to other countries also,” he said.
When asked about details relating to a comment made in the Oval office of some good news, the prime minister said Pakistan is playing its part in trying to seek release of probably two or three Americans and one Australian, who have been kidnapped and held in Afghanistan. “We hope to give some good news in the next 48 hours,” he said.
Asked about release of Shakil Afridi, a doctor by profession who helped the CIA target Osama bil Laden in Abbottabad compound, the prime minister said it was a very emotive issue as Shakil Afridi is considered a spy for the US and “we in Pakistan always felt that we were an ally of the US and had we been given the information about Osama bin Laden, we should have taken him out.” He said in fact it was the ISI that gave the information that led to the location of Osama bin Laden. “If you ask the CIA, it was ISI that gave the initial location through the phone connection,” he said. “Bear in mind that Pakistan was fighting the war for the US and Pakistan was attacked, but at the time it hugely embarrassed Pakistan. We were an ally of the US and the US didn’t trust us and they actually came in and killed a man,” he said. “Let’s not forget that Pakistan lost 70,000 people in this fight. We were fighting this war for the US and we lost all these people fighting this war,” he added.
When questioned about his meeting in the Oval Office and the ties with the US, Imran Khan said, “The whole idea of this meeting was that we should be on one page. This mistrust which has dogged our relationship. Pakistan – was it an ally or was it an enemy? We were bombed by drone attacks by an ally. So all this mistrust in the past, we wanted to reset our relationship based on understanding that we are on the same page. We want peace in Afghanistan, Pakistan will do everything to help the Taliban come on the dialogue table so that there is peace.” “So I think we struck that understanding now. I came out feeling that we really are now allies. Both of us want peace in Afghanistan, and Pakistan will do everything possible to ensure that this peace process goes forward,” he added.
When asked about his interaction with President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Imran Khan said, “I was very happy with the meeting. I found President Turmp to be refreshing in the sense that he is a straightforward person. No mixing, no juggling of words. He came out straight with things. My whole delegation loved the meeting.”
