Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday said that the United States presented mujahideen as heroes during Soviet-Afghan war but later we were asked to wage a war against those heroes after September 11 attacks. Speaking at an event at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank in New York, he said that the US had left Pakistan alone after the withdrawal of the then Soviet Union from Afghanistan, adding that the US needed Pakistan's help once again after the September 11 attacks.
He was in conversation with Richard N Haass, the president of CFR. "Soviet forces killed around 1 million during its war in Afghanistan," he said and added more than 70,000 Pakistanis have been martyred in the war on terror. "I am the only person who said that the Afghan issue doesn't have military solution," Imran Khan said, adding that 2.7 million Afghan refugees are living in Pakistan.
On the Afghan peace process, Imran Khan said that the "Afghan government, Ashraf Ghani personally forbade me from holding dialogues and or talking to the Taliban, whereas I and Pakistan wanted to apprise the Taliban of the negotiations and take them into confidence over the efforts being made for viable and long-lasting peace in the region".
The Prime Minister went on to say that the previous governments failed to find a solution to the economic woes, adding that due to the persistent issues, the current government had to rely on the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The prime minister said that the economic condition of the country was in dire straits and China was the first country to help when his party came into power.
On a question about China, PM Imran Khan said that he wished that he had the capacity to do what was being done in China in terms of corruption eradication and poverty alleviation back home in Pakistan.
"China jailed 400 people over corruption, it brought out 700 million people from abject poverty and became the strongest economy of the world, we should all admire and learn from China," he said.
Imran Khan has said that China, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates helped Pakistan and particularly its economy in testing times.
Regarding Indian-occupied Kashmir, Imran Khan said that the occupied Valley is under strict restrictions for the last 50 days after unilateral abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution through a rushed presidential decree on August 5.
He said that India is violating international laws in occupied Kashmir, adding that how can we hold talks with New Delhi in such environment and the international community should play a role to end curfew in occupied Kashmir. "Indian government has made eight million Kashmiris hostage by clamping the worst curfew for the last 50 days," Imran Khan said.
Imran Khan said the ruling party in India is pursuing an agenda of racist Hindu supremacy of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
The prime minister said just after coming to power he extended a hand of cooperation and resolving all issues with India on the dialogue table, but his offer was not well responded by the rulers of New Delhi.
He said Pakistan and India have common issues like poverty and climate change, which need to be addressed together, adding that "we urged India to reset our relations based on mutual interest. He also made it clear that we will allow no terrorist group on our soil".
"We tried in the past, we tried our best, we released their pilot Abhinandan after their failed attack against Pakistan's sovereignty, we answered them emphatically and showed maturity by returning their pilot, the message was simple, it had been since the day I assumed power, even before that, Pakistan is a peaceful country and wanted peace in the region but it reserves it's due right to protect itself from any misadventure, our desire for peace should not be deemed our weakness," concluded the Prime Minister.
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