Imran decries BJP policies as ‘anti-Muslim’
PREMIER HOPES TALKS WILL RESUME AFTER INDIA HOLDS ELECTIONS NEXT YEAR
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has said the approach of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is “anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan”, but expressed hope stalled bilateral talks between the two countries could resume after the general elections in India next year.
Imran said his government was keen to bring the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attack to book, adding this was in the interest of Pakistan.
“India has elections coming up. The ruling party [of India] has an anti-Muslim, anti-Pakistan approach. They rebuffed all my overtures. Let’s hope that after the election is over, we can again resume talks with India,” Imran said in an interview with the Washington Post.
India has told Pakistan that talks and terrorism cannot go together. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has ruled out the possibility of resumption of bilateral talks with Pakistan unless it “stops cross-border terror activities against India”.
The general elections are due to be held in India in April or May 2019. Speaking about the Mumbai terror attacks, Imran said Pakistan wants “something done about the bombers of Mumbai”.
“I have asked our government to find out the status of the case. Resolving that case is in our interest because it was an act of terrorism,” he said.
After taking charge as prime minister last August Imran said he was ready for peace talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Green signal for corridor
Pakistan sent a proposal in September to hold foreign minister-level talks in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. India accepted, and then rejected, the proposal, accusing Pakistan of glorifying terrorism and killing a security forces trooper in Jammu and Kashmir.
India and Pakistan gave the green signal to the muchawaited Kartarpur Corridor last month.
The four-kilometre corridor will connect Dera Baba Nanak in India’s Gurdaspur district with Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib Narowal in Pakistan. ■