Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan said that India and Pakistan were very close to resolving the Kashmir issue in a phased manner during the rule of then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and military ruler General Pervez Musharraf. Khan has made this statement during a program in his America tour. Earlier, India had rejected the statement of US President Donald Trump regarding the Kashmir issue.
While taking part in a program from US Congress on behalf of the US Institute of Peace, Imran said, “India and Pakistan had come very close to resolving Kashmir issue in a phased manner during Vajpayee’s time.” He however avoided explaining anything about the solution and said that this is a sensitive issue. He emphasized that Kashmir is the cause of the dispute between India and Pakistan.
Pakistan PM said that Pakistan’s top priority is to eliminate corruption and create strong relations with our neighbors besides building strong institutions. They said, ‘There should be stability in our area.’ Khan said that after coming to power, he first tried to make contact with India. He said, “India is a country with which our relations are not well. Unfortunately, one issue is due to Kashmir. Whenever we tried, whenever the relationship with India started moving forward in the right direction, an incident decreased and it all belongs to Kashmir and we reached the same place.
Khan said that immediately after assuming charge, he approached his Indian counterpart and assured him that if India goes one step, then he will take two steps. Keeping in view the question of the mastermind of Mumbai terror attack and Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, Khan said that it is in the interest of Pakistan that we do not allow any armed militant group to work in our country.
It is worth mentioning that Hafiz Saeed has been arrested for the seventh time recently. Imran said that Pakistan’s name came in the Pulwama attack because it was a group (Jaish-e-Mohammed) based in his country and Kashmir that took responsibility for the attack. Imran Khan, who arrived on a three-day official visit to the US, met with US president Donald Trump on Monday in White House. It was the first talk of face-to-face between the two leaders. He described the meeting as very successful, which helped in reclamation of bilateral relations.
Imran Khan claimed that during his reign Pakistan had abandoned its decades-old strategic approach to Afghanistan. He said that it started in the past due to the fear that Pakistan should face danger from both sides if there is Indian influence in Afghanistan. Khan said, ‘We believe that we should not interfere in the internal affairs of Afghanistan. This is now a big difference. Our (elected government and the army) have the same thinking. “
India-Pakistan were very close to resolving Kashmir issue during Vajpayee : PM Khan
