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Islamabad: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday offered India dialogue over the Kashmir issue and expressed his willingness to investigate the Pulwama attack, but also warned India against any act of aggression.
“If you have any actionable intelligence, give it to us. I guarantee that we will take action .. not because of [external] pressure, but because it is in our interest that our soil is not used for carrying out terrorist attacks in other countries, nor do we want outsiders to carry out terror attacks here. We desire stability,” Imran said in a televised address.
While offering cooperation and giving peace another chance, the premier also strongly warned India against any military aggression, saying Pakistan will not hesitate in retaliating. “Pakistan will not just think to retaliate. Pakistan will retaliate,” Imran affirmed. However, he hoped that better sense would prevail. “We all know that starting a war is easy, but ending it won’t be.”
Despite India’s immediate accusation without any evidence, Pakistan decided not to respond immediately to avoid drawing attention away from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman’s visit yesterday, he explained.
Pakistan would never think of disturbing the regional situation at a time when peace has returned after huge losses in war against terrorism, he said. “We have fought a war against terrorism for 15 years, 70,000 Pakistanis have lost their lives, terrorism is declining, peace is returning ─ what benefit would we get from it [the Pulwama attack]?” he asked.
In his seven-minute-long crisp speech, the Pakistani premier urged India to come to the negotiating table, saying “This [Kashmir] issue will only be resolved through dialogue and talks”, referring to neighbouring Afghanistan where all world powers have realised that there is no military solution to any conflict. It is also time India should begin introspection on Kashmir, focusing on the “reason these Kashmiri youths have gotten to the point where they have no fear of death anymore? There must be some reason.”
Recalling that this is an election year in India and beating the war drums at this critical time could be lucrative as there are voices in India that say ‘Pakistan must be taught a lesson’, but “what law gives any country to become judge, jury and executioner?” he asked. Instead of holding Pakistan responsible for every incident in Kashmir, “start a dialogue,” he stressed. The premier added that every time Islamabad tries to initiate dialogue, Delhi’s precondition is that terrorism must be talked about. “We are ready to talk about terrorism. Terrorism is a regional issue .. We want terrorism to end,” he stated.
The already sour relations between the two South Asian neighbours have aggravated over the past week as New Delhi blamed Islamabad for the Pulwama attack in which 49 Indian paramilitary personnel were killed in Indian-administered Kashmir. Pakistan categorically and immediately refuted the allegations.
Pakistan appeals to UN to diffuse tensions
On Tuesday, Pakistan also appealed to the United Nations to intervene to “defuse tensions” between Pakistan and India following the Pulwama attack. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in his letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said “It is with a sense of urgency that I draw your attention to the deteriorating security situation in our region resulting from the threat of use of force against Pakistan by India.”
Qureshi added that “Attributing it [the attack] to Pakistan even before investigations is absurd.” He maintained that India must be asked “to conduct an open and credible investigation on Pulwama incident.”
