Islamabad/Chandigarh: General elections were held in Pakistan yesterday (July 25) and counting of votes had started soon after the poll ended which continued today. Pakistan Tehrik-E-Insaaf (PTI) led by cricketer turned politician Imran Khan is set to assume political power in Pakistan.
While delivering his ‘victory speech’ from PTI office Imran Khan also spoke about Pakistan’s relationships with India. Talking about India, Imran Khan firstly said that he was disappointed to see that the Indian media portrayed him as a Bollywood villain. ‘It felt like everything bad for India would happen if Imran Khan assumes power’, he added.
“I believe that if the relations between India and Pakistan improve, it will be beneficial for the region”, he said.
“If we wish to reduce poverty in the region, which should be the foremost priority of any government, the best way is to have trade ties with each other. The trade would befit both the countries”, added he.
Terming Kashmir as a core issue in Indo-Pak relation, Iran Khan said that the human rights violations that Kashmiri people have faced in last 30 years were inevitable because when the army takes charge of civilian areas it results in human rights violations. Kashmiris have suffered a lot because of it.
He said that the leadership of India and Pakistan should get to the table to find a solution to this (Kashmir) issue.
Terming India’s accusations against Pakistan in Kashmir issue as ‘blame game’ he said that they (Pakistan) believe that India is doing the same thing in Balochistan. “This way we are at square one”, he added.
‘If India’s leadership is ready to improve the relations with Pakistan, we are surely ready to move forward in this regard. If you put one step toward us, we shall put two steps towards you. But we need to move forward’, said Imran Khan while adding that there had been a one-sided blame game accusing Pakistan.
He said that it was better for the subcontinent that India and Pakistan solve their mutual issues through dialogue.