- Pakistan wants to spend more on human development than weapons
- PM holds informal meeting with Russian President
- Says Peace among India and Pakistan is entirely dependent on
resolution of Kashmir issue
BISHKEK, June 13: Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan has expressed the desire to increase military ties with the country.
Imran Khan, who reached Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan earlier in the day to attend the 19th meeting of the Council of the Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) said that he was happy with the burgeoning relations between Pakistan and Russia.
This is not the 60s, things have changed drastically from the past riddled with cold war, said Khan while talking to a Russian news outlet Thursday.
Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan when asked about his expectations from his Bishkek trip and official meeting with the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin expressed hope to increase and strengthen defense relations with the former super power.
Relations between the Pakistan Armed Forces and the Russian Military have increased manifold in the recent past and we would like to take it further,anticipated Khan.
The Pakistani premier was asked if Pakistan was interested in buying weapons from Russia to which Imran Khan said that no such intention exists at present as the government is trying to stabalize economy back home.
We are trying to focus on human development at the moment, the stand-off with India has observed gradual decrease for now ,Khan answered.
Answering a question about potential meeting with the Russian premier, Khan said: I would like to potentially visit Russia, I have visited once in the past and yes, I am probably going to meet the Russian leadership.
I will hopefully meet the Russian President Vladimir Putin during the meeting of the Council of the Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
Khan added that he had met the Russian premier in the past during his visit to China.
“And so we believe in peace with all the neighbours, especially with India … It is my belief that the money should be spent on getting people out of poverty like China got millions and millions of people out of poverty. And so our emphasis should be peace, resolving our differences through dialogue.”
Elaborating on Islamabad’s efforts for peace with New Delhi, the premier said Pakistan has repeatedly conveyed its willingness to talk. “There is no way two nuclear-armed countries should think of resolving differences through military means. It is madness. Now that the [Indian] elections are over we hope that the Indian leadership will grasp this opportunity that Pakistan is offering – that let’s resolve all our differences through dialogue.”
“We hope now that the current prime minister [Narendra Modi] has one big mandate, we hope that he will use this mandate to develop a better relationship and bring peace in the subcontinent.”
Delving further on the matter, PM Imran said peace among India and Pakistan was entirely dependent on the issue of Kashmir. “The only difference, if we resolve that there will be peace in the subcontinent, that’s Kashmir. Unfortunately, Kashmir can only be resolved if the people of Kashmir are given the right of self-determination, which was guaranteed to them by the United Nations in 1945.”
“The use of force by the Indian government to subdue has backfired. The more force there has been used, the more the people of Kashmir have turned against the Indian government, the more radicalisation has come in the young people of Kashmir. And it is a future source of destabilisation of the continent. That’s why it is very important to resolve the Kashmir issue.”
Discussing Pakistan’s relations with America in the context of India, Khan was of the opinion that both countries wanted comradely with US.
The status of delayed Iran-Pakistan pipeline was inquired about in the context of American curb on doing business or trade with the neighboring country.
PM Khan agreed that the project is on hold owing to the fact that American restrictions have been imposed on the Islamic Republic.
It was asked if there was a possibility to make visa restrictions less stringent between Russia and Pakistan to which Khan replied that the government has worked on bettering the visa troubles and policies to promote people to people connection between countries.
We have reformed and are reforming the visa policies in Pakistan, now people can easily be issued visas at the airports and we are headed in the direction where restrictions will be lifted and more allowance will be created for people flying in or out of the country.
Khan revealed that an agreement has been reached with 70 countries whose citizens will be eligible for visas at the airport which is a first in the history of Pakistan.
The Pakistan premier flew to Bishkek on the invitation of Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov where he is scheduled to attend the two day SCO summit, address two sessions of the meeting and will also have bilateral interaction with other participating leaders on the sidelines. -NNI/Agencies
