{"id":10432,"date":"2021-06-22T08:44:22","date_gmt":"2021-06-22T08:44:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/?p=10432"},"modified":"2021-06-22T08:44:22","modified_gmt":"2021-06-22T08:44:22","slug":"no-need-for-nuclear-deterrents-once-kashmir-issue-is-resolved-pm-imran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/2021\/06\/22\/no-need-for-nuclear-deterrents-once-kashmir-issue-is-resolved-pm-imran\/","title":{"rendered":"No need for nuclear deterrents once Kashmir issue is resolved: PM Imran"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Islamabad, June 21 (): Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that once the Kashmir issue is resolved, there will no longer be any need for nuclear deterrents.<\/p>\n<p>He said this while speaking to journalist Jonathan Swan on\u00a0<em>Axios<\/em>\u00a0on\u00a0<em>HBO<\/em>. \u201cIntelligence analysts say Pakistan has the fastest growing nuclear arsenal anywhere in the world. Why?\u201d the interviewer questioned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know where they\u2019ve come up with this. Pakistan\u2019s nuclear arsenal is simply a deterrent, to protect ourselves,\u201d he said, adding that he was \u201cnot sure\u201d whether it was growing. \u201cAs far as I know, it\u2019s not an offensive thing. Any country which has a neighbour seven times its size would be worried.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He went on to say that he was \u201ccompletely against nuclear arms\u201d. \u201cI always have been. We\u2019ve had three wars against India and ever since we have had a nuclear deterrent, there has been no war between the two countries. We\u2019ve had border skirmishes but we\u2019ve never faced war.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--adjustable my-4 hidden sm:block py-4\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe moment there is a settlement on Kashmir, the two neighbours would live as civilised people. We will not need to have nuclear deterrents.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"60d068a07ebb6\">Uighur Muslims<\/h2>\n<p>Asked why he was so outspoken about Islamophobia in the West but silent about the genocide of Uighur Muslims in China, he said that all issues were discussed with China \u201cbehind closed doors\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChina has been one of the greatest friends to us in our most difficult times. When we were really struggling, China came to our rescue. We respect the way they are and whatever issues we have, we speak behind closed doors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI look around the world what\u2019s happening in Palestine, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Afghanistan. Am I going to start talking about everything? I concentrate on what is happening on my border, in my country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He questioned why this was such a big issue in the Western world when the people of occupied Kashmir were being ignored. \u201cIt is much more relevant. Compared to what may be going on with the Uighurs, 100,000 Kashmiris have been killed,\u201d he said, adding that the occupied valley had been turned into an \u201copen prison\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy is that not an issue?\u201d he asked, adding that he considered it to be \u201chypocrisy\u201d.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media w-full w-full media--stretch media--uneven media--embed \">\n<div class=\"media__item media__item--twitter \">\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"Twitter Tweet\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3R3ZWV0X2VtYmVkX2NsaWNrYWJpbGl0eV8xMjEwMiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJwb2ludGVyX2hvdmVyIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6Mn19&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1406801546545827842&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dawn.com%2Fnews%2F1630650&amp;sessionId=989263b21fb61c9fc27c243250d3723efbb7077a&amp;siteScreenName=dawn_com&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=82e1070%3A1619632193066&amp;width=550px\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"1406801546545827842\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>He said that he was concentrating on the things that concerned the country and its borders. \u201cOne hundred thousand Kashmiris dying, that concerns me more because half of Kashmir is in Pakistan,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Talking about the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1587466\">open letter<\/a>\u00a0he had written to leaders of Muslims states calling on them to unite against Islamphobia, PM Imran said: \u201cThere is a big communication gap between the Islamic world and Western societies. It happened after 9\/11 when the world \u2018Islamic\u2019 terrorism came into currency.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"60d068a07ec44\">US withdrawal from Afghanistan<\/h2>\n<p>Asked whether he was \u201chappy\u201d about the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the premier said: \u201cHappy in one way because there was never gonna be a military solution in Afghanistan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He went to say that there were also feelings of anxiousness. \u201cWithout a political settlement there is possibility of a civil war.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He stated that in his view, a political settlement would mean a coalition government between the Taliban and the Afghan leadership. \u201cThere is no other solution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Asked whether the US had made a mistake by announcing the date of the withdrawal, PM Imran said: \u201cThey 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He went on to say that as far as Pakistan is concerned, it would deal with whoever represented the people of Afghanistan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoes it not concern you that this group of people [Taliban] is accumulating power right next to you?\u201d asked Swan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLook, I\u2019m not a spokesman for Taliban. For me to say what they [should] be doing, shouldn\u2019t 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,\u201d he said, adding that Pakistan was housing three million Afghan refugees.<\/p>\n<p>There must be a political settlement before the Americans leave, he said.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"60d068a07ec6a\">Relationship with the US<\/h2>\n<p>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 \u201cconstant touch\u201d. However, he denied meeting the CIA chief.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWould you allow the American government to have CIA here in Pakistan to conduct cross-border counterterrorism missions against Al-Qaeda, ISIS or the Taliban?\u201d asked Swan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbsolutely not. There is no way we are going to allow any bases, any sort of action from Pakistani territory into Afghanistan. Absolutely not,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media w-full w-full media--stretch media--uneven media--embed \">\n<div class=\"media__item media__item--relative media__item--instagram \"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"instagram-embed-0\" class=\"instagram-media instagram-media-rendered\" src=\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/p\/CQTEiZgBnHR\/embed\/captioned\/?cr=1&amp;v=13&amp;wp=540&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dawn.com&amp;rp=%2Fnews%2F1630650#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A5264.200000000012%7D\" width=\"300\" height=\"915\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-instgrm-payload-id=\"instagram-media-payload-0\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cPakistan suffered 70,000 casualties, more than any other country by joining the American war. We cannot afford anymore military actions from our territory. We will be partners in peace, not in conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Asked whether Pakistan would allow the US Air Force to use its airspace for air strikes against the Taliban, the premier reiterated that Pakistan \u201cwould not be a part of any conflict\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>When pushed for an answered, he replied that it had not been discussed. \u201cWhy would the Americans bomb Afghanistan when it hasn\u2019t worked for 20 years?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Asked whether he had spoken to US President Joe Biden since the Democrat assumed office, he simply said: \u201cNo I haven\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs there a reason for that?\u201d asked Swan. \u201cWhenever he has time he can speak to me. At the moment, clearly, he has other priorities,\u201d replied PM Imran.<\/p>\n<p>When the interviewer asked what he would discuss with Biden, he said that the US had a big responsibility when it came to occupied Kashmir. \u201cIf the Americans have the resolve and the will, [the Kashmir issue] can be sorted out.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"60d068a07ec95\">Sexual violence in Pakistan<\/h2>\n<p>Asked to respond to his comments linking the incidence of rape to obscenity, the premier said: \u201cIt is such nonsense. I never said that [\u2026] I said the concept of\u00a0<em>purdah<\/em>\u00a0which is to avoid temptation in society.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said that Pakistan had a completely different society and way of life. \u201cIf you raise temptation within society and all these young guys have nowhere to go, it has consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you think that what women wear has any effect, that it is part of this temptation?\u201d Swan asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf a woman is wearing very few clothes, it will have an impact on men unless they are robots. I mean it\u2019s common sense,\u201d he said. If you have a society where people haven\u2019t seen that sort of thing it will have an impact on them, he said.<\/p>\n<p>When the interviewer brought up his past as an international cricket star, PM Imran said: \u201cThis is not about me. It\u2019s about my society. My priority is how my society behaves [\u2026] so when I see sex crime going through the roof we sit down and discuss how to tackle it. It is having an impact in my society.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Islamabad, June 21 (): 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\u00a0Axios\u00a0on\u00a0HBO. \u201cIntelligence analysts say Pakistan has the fastest growing nuclear arsenal anywhere in the world. Why?\u201d the interviewer questioned. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10011,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,36,40,39],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10432","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-international","8":"category-kashmir","9":"category-latest-news","10":"category-pakistan"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10432"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10434,"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10432\/revisions\/10434"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}