Ready for talks any time: Imran Don’t know who Chawla is: Sidhu
OUTREACH Says willing to wait for 2019 polls but push for peace can’t be onesided
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan acknowledged on Thursday it was not in the country’s interest to allow its soil to be used for terrorism and said he was prepared to talk to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at “any time”.
A day after India said it was regrettable that Khan referred to Kashmir at the groundbreaking of the Kartarpur corridor, the premier again raised the issue and said India shouldn’t treat it only as a “territorial issue”.
Khan also said he was prepared to wait till after India’s general election in 2019 for any sort of forward movement in bilateral relations but stressed that the push for peace can’t be “one-sided”.
This was the latest in a series of strong statements made by the Pakistani administration expressing an inclination for greater engagement, most of which came in the wake of the two nations deciding to build a corridor for Sikh pilgrims from India to visit the Kartarpur shrine in Pakistan.
On Wednesday, India’s external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said the Kartarpur project cannot be the basis for resuming dialogue.
“Terror and talks cannot go hand-in-glove. The moment Pakistan stops terror activity against India, talks can begin,” she said.
She also ruled out PM Modi attending a Saarc meeting in Pakistan unless there was more progress on talks.
During an interaction with a visiting group of Indian journalists on Thursday, Khan was repeatedly questioned about Pakistan’s handling of terror, which India has linked to any possible resumption of talks.
“I can say in all earnestness that it is not in Pakistan’s interest for anyone to use our soil for terrorism,” he said. All political parties have endorsed the National Action Plan on terror-
I can say in all earnestness that it is not in Pakistan’s interest for anyone to use our soil for terrorism... There is a clampdown on him (Hafiz Saeed). The case against the accused in the Mumbai attacks is in court and it is sub judice
IMRAN KHAN, Pakistan PM
ism and no armed group would be allowed to operate in the country, he added.
Asked about the possibility of acting against Lashkar-e-taiba (LET) founder Hafiz Saeed, Khan said there were “severe” UN sanctions against his group.
“There is a clampdown on him. The case against the accused in the Mumbai attacks is in court and it is sub judice,” he said, adding that his government had “inherited” the issue.
Khan said he had a “good conversation” with Modi and “would be happy to talk to him any time”. He recalled his pledge in his first speech after his party’s election victory to take two steps for every step taken by India and said there had been a “bad response” from New Delhi, which had called off a meeting of foreign ministers on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September. CHANDIGARH: Finding himself in the centre of controversy following his picture with pro-khalistani leader Gopal Singh Chawla in Pakistan, Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu defended himself by insisting he did not know who Chawla was.
The former cricketer, back after attending the groundbreaking ceremony of the Pakistani section of the Kartarpur corridor, told reporters in Attari: “During the day-long function (at Kartarpur on Wednesday), I was captured in 5,000-10,000 photographs. I don’t know who was Gopal Chawla.”