Modi and Khan discuss regional peace
‘Reiterated his vision of peace and development in the entire neighborhood’
ISLAMABAD: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Imran Khan on Monday to congratulate him on his party’s victory in the Pakistan general election, with both men discussing regional peace. It was their first call since Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) emerged victorious from last week’s vote that has been marred by claims of pre-election rigging and irregularities on the day.
Relations between the nuclear-armed rivals have frayed in the last couple of years, with direct talks stalled amid diplomatic rows and military firing across the Line of Control frontier that divides the disputed region of Kashmir. Khan, widely seen as Pakistan’s prime ministerin-waiting, is now courting independent candidates and minor parties to form a coalition government in a nation that has fought three wars with India.
In the phone call, Modi “reiterated his vision of peace and development in the entire neighborhood”, according to a statement by India’s Ministry of External Affairs. Khan declared in his victory speech that he wanted to resolve the long-standing territorial dispute over Kashmir, saying “if India comes and takes one step towards us, we will take two”. Khan’s media team said he had told Modi it was vital both countries focus on pulling millions out of poverty.
The PTI said Khan had also told Modi that issues between the two nations must be resolved through talks. “Wars can breed tragedies instead of facilitating resolution of conflicts,” he said, according to a PTI statement. “Prime Minister (Modi) expressed hope that democracy will take deeper roots in Pakistan,” the Indian ministry said in a brief statement. European Union observers say there was an uneven playing field during the election as major obstacles were put in the way of a rival party that was led by jailed former premier Nawaz Sharif. The United States has also expressed concern about what it calls electoral “flaws”.
Khan has offered to investigate all claims of irregularities, and promised to build a new Pakistan with an Islamic welfare state that would seek to elevate those mired in poverty. Some analysts and commentators have said Pakistan’s democracy has been weakened by meddling by the armed forces. Both Khan and the military deny colluding with each other.
Majority-Muslim Pakistan has criticized India in recent years about what it calls New Delhi’s heavy-handed tactics in Kashmir, as well as violence suffered by the Muslim-minority groups in India at the hands of Hindu extremists. India blames Pakistan for stoking the revolt in Kashmir and the Modi government has refused talks unless Islamabad acts against militant groups operating from its soil against India. India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, two of them over Kashmir, which they both claim in full but rule in part. In its first response to Khan’s election, the Indian foreign office said it hoped Pakistan’s new government would work for a terror-free South Asia.
Citizens list
One of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s biggest critics is rallying opposition parties against his government after a new list of citizens excluded 4 million people from a border state in a drive against illegal immigrants. The draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) is the result of a years-long agitation by residents of the northeastern state of Assam demanding expulsion of the immigrants from Muslimmajority Bangladesh just over the border.
Work on it accelerated under the state and federal governments of Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the exclusions from the list released on Monday have given ammunition to opposition parties to band together against Modi’s re-election bid next year. Mamata Banerjee, the firebrand chief minister of India’s eastern state of West Bengal, accused the BJP of trying to make millions of people stateless for political reasons. “This can’t be tolerated and that’s why India needs a change, and the change must come in 2019, for the betterment of the people of this country,” Banerjee said at an event in New Delhi. Outside parliament, her regional All-India Trinamool Congress led a protest by lawmakers from seven political parties, who held placards demanding “Stop this divide and rule policy” and “Why have Indian citizens become refugees in their own country?”
Assam has been racked by waves of violence over the years as residents, including tribal groups, have clashed with both Hindu and Muslim settlers, whom they accuse of plundering resources and taking away jobs. BJP President Amit Shah hit back at the opposition, saying his party was the only one that dared to take a firm stance against illegal immigration. He said migrants from Bangladesh had no place in India.
India does not have a deportation pact with Bangladesh, however, and the government has said it would decide on the fate of those eventually deemed foreigners in consultation with the Supreme Court, which is monitoring the registration process. In Assam, many applicants queued for the second day at government booths to check their citizenship status, with some relieved at finding their names on the list while others who did not make it hung around, dejected. There have been no reports of violence and security remains tight. — Agencies
Relations have frayed in the last couple of years