Islamabad: Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that once the Kashmir issue is resolved, there will no longer be any need for nuclear deterrents.
He said this while speaking to journalist Jonathan Swan on Axios on HBO. “Intelligence analysts say Pakistan has the fastest growing nuclear arsenal anywhere in the world. Why?” the interviewer questioned.
“I don’t know where they’ve come up with this. Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal is simply a deterrent, to protect ourselves,” he said, adding that he was “not sure” whether it was growing. “As far as I know, it’s not an offensive thing. Any country which has a neighbour seven times its size would be worried.”
He went on to say that he was “completely against nuclear arms”. “I always have been. We’ve had three wars against India and ever since we have had a nuclear deterrent, there has been no war between the two countries. We’ve had border skirmishes but we’ve never faced war.
“The moment there is a settlement on Kashmir, the two neighbours would live as civilised people. We will not need to have nuclear deterrents.”
Talking about the open letter he had written to leaders of Muslims states calling on them to unite against Islamphobia, PM Imran said: “There is a big communication gap between the Islamic world and Western societies. It happened after 9/11 when the world ‘Islamic’ terrorism came into currency.”
The moment you say Islamic terrorism, the common man in the West thinks there is something within the religion which leads to terrorism, he said. After 9/11 any time there was a terrorist act where a Muslim was involved, 1.3 billion Muslims across the world started becoming targets, he said.
Asked whether he was “happy” about the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the premier said: “Happy in one way because there was never gonna be a military solution in Afghanistan.”
He went to say that there were also feelings of anxiousness. “Without a political settlement there is possibility of a civil war.”
He stated that in his view, a political settlement would mean a coalition government between the Taliban and the Afghan leadership. “There is no other solution.”
Asked whether the US had made a mistake by announcing the date of the withdrawal, PM Imran said: “They have got themselves in such a big mess. They had to give some sort of timeframe, but the moment they gave a timeframe the Taliban would have considered that a victory.”
He went on to say that as far as Pakistan is concerned, it would deal with whoever represented the people of Afghanistan.
“Does it not concern you that this group of people [Taliban] is accumulating power right next to you?” asked Swan.
“Look, I’m not a spokesman for Taliban. For me to say what they [should] be doing, shouldn’t be doing is pointless. In case Taliban go for an all out victory, there is going to be an incredible amount of bloodshed and the country that will suffer the most after Afghanistan, is going to be Pakistan,” he said, adding that Pakistan was housing three million Afghan refugees.
There must be a political settlement before the Americans leave, he said.
Relationship with the US
Talking about the recent visit of CIA Director William Burns, the prime minister said that since 9/11 the intelligence agencies of the two countries have been in “constant touch”. However, he denied meeting the CIA chief.
“Would you allow the American government to have CIA here in Pakistan to conduct cross-border counterterrorism missions against Al-Qaeda, ISIS or the Taliban?” asked Swan.
“Absolutely not. There is no way we are going to allow any bases, any sort of action from Pakistani territory into Afghanistan. Absolutely not,” he replied. AFP
