Wed 24 July 2019:
The Kashmir conflict between India and Pakistan is one of the longest-running conflicts in modern history, and the fact that both rivals possess nuclear weapons aggravates every escalation of tensions. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said that his country would be ready to eliminate nuclear weapons if India did as well.
When asked if Pakistan would be able to do so, Khan told Fox News’ Bret Baier: “Yes. Because nuclear war is not an option. And between Pakistan and India, the idea of nuclear war is actually self-destruction, because we have a two and a half thousand-mile border.” Khan recalled a period of escalation in February, when Indian and Pakistani fighter jets engaged in a dogfight over Kashmir.
“An Indian plane was shot down in Pakistan. So there’s a realisation [of the need to promote a peace process], and that’s why I asked President Trump if he could play his role. The US is the most powerful country in the world, the only country that could mediate between Pakistan and India and the only issue is Kashmir.”
Khan said that Kashmir is the only reason why Pakistan and India “have not been able to live like civilised neighbours” for the past seven decades. The nuclear-armed rivals have fought three wars over Kashmir. Both claim all of its territory, but control only parts of it, divided by the de facto demarcation known as the Line of Control.
At a news conference on Monday, Khan asked Trump to help broker negotiations on the Kashmir issue, and the US president claimed that Indian Prime Minister Modi had come up with the same proposal in a private conversation.
But after India’s opposition protested and asked the government for clarification, the country’s foreign minister repudiated Trump’s claim and stated that no such request had been made, as India wants to resolve the conflict only through bilateral talks.
President Trump says PM Modi asked him to mediate between India & Pakistan on Kashmir!
If true, PM Modi has betrayed India’s interests & 1972 Shimla Agreement.
A weak Foreign Ministry denial won’t do. PM must tell the nation what transpired in the meeting between him & @POTUS
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 23, 2019
Khan said in response that India and Pakistan remained “poles apart” on the issue but insisted that the United States acting as a peace broker could break the impasse.
“I really feel that India should come on the table,” he noted. “The US could play a big part, President Trump certainly can play a big part. We’re talking about 1.3 billion people on this Earth. Imagine the dividends of peace if somehow that issue could be resolved.”
The Washington Sit-Down
Khan made the comments following a face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump in Washington, DC, which largely focused on regional issues, in particular Afghanistan. President Trump, who has pledged to disengage the United States from conflicts across the globe, is seeking to end the US’ long-standing presence in the crisis-hit country. Washington is currently involved in peace talks with the Taliban.
Trump was hopeful that Islamabad would help the Americans to “extricate” themselves from Afghanistan and has pressured Khan to step up cooperation in the Afghan peace process.
“We’ve been there — we’ve been there for 19 years, in Afghanistan. It’s ridiculous. And I think Pakistan helps us with that because we don’t want to stay as policemen,” he said.
