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Even UN recognises indigenous struggle of Kashmiris: Imran

Kashmir Times. Dated: 1/9/2019 11:42:54 AM

‘India rejected Pak’s offer for talks several times’

ISLAMABAD, Jan 8 (Agencies): While continuing its smear campaign against India, Pakistani premier Imran Khan wants to teach the country how to deal with Kashmir and its people.
In an exclusive interview with Turkish news agency TRT World, Khan has said the struggle in Kashmir is indigenous, which "even the United Nations recognises now.”
Khan also said, “Despite New Delhi's many attempts, India will never be able to suppress the freedom movement of the people of Kashmir.” Imran also accused India of not responding to his peace overtures and said that any war between two nuclear-armed nations would be suicidal for them. Khan made the remarks during an interview saying India was being "brutal" in Kashmir.
"Indian brutality in Kashmir in the last year has just been mind-boggling. They have been killing, shooting at boys, blinding them pellet guns. They have killed about 500 people in a year," Khan said in the interview. Khan said that the brutality in India was alienating the people of Kashmir, but India was trying to blame Pakistan for this hatred. "And also this hatred against India because while they kill people there is a reaction so what India is doing is palming off this reaction on Pakistan," he added.
According to his Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party, Khan again expressed his desire for talks with India.
He said that even a cold war was not in the interests of the two countries.
"Two nuclear armed countries should not even think of a war; not even a cold war because it could worsen any time. The only way is bilateral talks. Two nuclear armed countries at war is like a suicide," the party quoted him as saying. He said India did not respond to his peace overtures.
India has been maintaining that terror and talks cannot go together. “India was offered to take one step towards and we shall take two. But India rejected Pakistan's offer for talks several times,” Khan said.
The Indo-Pak ties strained after the terror attacks by Pakistan-based terrorists in 2016 and India's surgical strikes inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The ties further nose-dived in 2017 with no bilateral talks talking place between them.
The Pakistan PM said Islamabad wanted dialogue with India but New Delhi has refused the country's many peace overtures.
In a veiled attack against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December last year, the Pakistani prime minister had said minorities would be treated as equal citizens in "Naya Pakistan", "unlike what is happening in India.”