Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has stated that he would want to have a televised debate with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to address their issues.
Since their independence 75 years ago, the nuclear-armed rivals have had a tense relationship, fighting three wars, with tensions recently strained over the northern Muslim-majority territory of Kashmir, which both claim in its full.
In an interview with Russia Today on Tuesday, Khan said, “I would love to debate with Narendra Modi on television,” adding that it would be beneficial for the subcontinent’s 1.7 billion people if differences could be resolved through debate.
According to the Reuters news agency, India’s Ministry of External Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“India became a hostile country, thus commerce with them was low,” Khan remarked, emphasising that his government’s aim was to maintain trade links with all nations.
Khan’s comments follow similar remarks made recently by Pakistan’s senior commercial official, Razak Dawood, who told journalists that he welcomed trade links with India, which would benefit both sides, according to the media.
With Iran, Pakistan’s southern neighbour, under US sanctions and Afghanistan, to the west, engaged in decades of war, Khan said Pakistan’s regional trading options were already restricted.
Pakistan has strong economic ties with China, which has promised billions of dollars to infrastructure and other projects as part of its Belt and Road Initiative.
Khan’s interview took place on the day of his trip to Moscow, where he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin – the first time a Pakistani leader has visited Russia in more than two decades.
Before the current Ukraine situation, a two-day visit for talks on economic cooperation was scheduled.
The Ukraine crisis “doesn’t concern us; we have a bilateral relations with Russia that we want to strengthen,” Khan said.
Ties between India and Pakistan have strained since a terror attack on the Pathankot Air Force base in 2016 by Pakistan-based extremist groups. The relationship deteriorated further after other attacks, including one on an Indian Army camp in Uri.
After India’s war jets bombed a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training centre deep within Pakistan on February 26, 2019, in response to the Pulwama terror incident in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed, the relationship deteriorated further.
In August of this year, India announced the removal of Jammu and Kashmir’s special powers and the division of the erstwhile state into two Union Territories.
Jammu & Kashmir was, is, and always will be an essential part of India, India has consistently warned Pakistan. It also urged Pakistan to face reality and cease spreading anti-India propaganda.
India has expressed its wish for regular neighbourly relations with Pakistan, free of terror, hostility, and violence.
Prime Minister Khan also voiced optimism for a “peaceful solution” to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, emphasising that military wars can never resolve issues.
“I am not a believer in military conflicts. I believe the civilised societies resolve the difference through dialogues and countries that rely on military conflicts have not studied history properly,” Mr. Khan said during the interview.
Mr. Khan said that he was confident that the people of Ukraine and Russia were aware of the potential implications of a conflict.
President Vladimir Putin signed decrees on Monday recognising Ukraine’s “Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics” as “independent,” intensifying regional tensions and raising worries of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. He also sent Russian troops into eastern Ukraine for a “peacekeeping” mission in the Moscow-backed territories, according to the Kremlin.
The West, led by the United States, has warned Russia that its actions in Ukraine will have serious consequences.
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