Prime Minister Imran Khan has assured the Narendra Modi-led Indian government that the Pakistani nation will “fight to the death for their freedom” in case of a conventional war with India. He also assured the people of Kashmir that he will work tirelessly to expose the human rights abuses committed by Indian throughout the longstanding Kashmiri struggle for independence.
"If say Pakistan, God forbid, we are fighting a conventional war, we are losing, and if a country is stuck between the choice: either you surrender or you fight 'til death for your freedom, I know Pakistanis will fight to death for their freedom…"https://t.co/WP4krfYWUh
— Rishi Kumar Nagar🍁 (@RishiKNagar) September 16, 2019
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Prime Minister Imran Khan said, “If say Pakistan, God forbid, we are fighting a conventional war, we are losing, and if a country is stuck between the choice: either you surrender or you fight ’til death for your freedom, I know Pakistanis will fight to death for their freedom.”
Fight to the End
Prime Minister Imran Khan clarified that Pakistan will never be the first to start a war, but should it find itself forced into war, the nation and the army will fight to the end. The Premier said that he is “anti-war” and he firmly believes that “wars do not solve any problems.”
Imran Khan observed that when two nuclear-armed countries engage in a conflict, it leads to the possibility of a nuclear war, which is “unthinkable”. He said, “So when a nuclear-armed country fights to the end, to the death, it has consequences.”
Imran Khan condemned Modi-led government’s decision to use blatant force to subdue and oppress the Kashmiri people and intimidate them into accepting the unlawful decision of abolishing Article 370
He said that Pakistan seeks to avert the potential disaster of nuclear war by inviting international mediation, as the repercussions of a nuclear war will stretch beyond the south Asian region. He said, “So that’s why we have approached the United Nations, we are approaching every international forum, that they must act right now because this is a potential disaster that would go way beyond the Indian subcontinent.”
Narrating his disappointments in attempting to initiate dialogue with New Delhi, the premier noted that until recently, Pakistan has taken multiple initiatives to “live as civilized neighbors” and open dialogue to resolve differences through political channels. However, the premier noted that this is no longer possible.
I especially welcome the statement by the UNHCHR in Geneva today. I call upon the UN Human Rights Council to immediately set up the indep Investigation commission to probe human rights abuses in IOJK as recommended by the UNHCHR's two reports on Kashmir. The time to act is now. pic.twitter.com/Xy8hfkDwe2
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) September 9, 2019
He said, “We discovered that while we were trying to have dialogue, they were trying to push us in the blacklist in FATF (Financial Action Task Force). If Pakistan is pushed into the blacklist of FATF that means there will be sanctions on Pakistan. So they were trying to bankrupt us economically, so that’s when we pulled back. And that’s when we realized that this government is on an agenda … to push Pakistan to disaster.”
No Question of Talks with India
Prime Minister Imran Khan stated that there no longer remains a question of initiating talks with India after New Delhi’s unlawful and unilateral move of revoking the special constitutional status of the Kashmiri people.
He said, “There is no question of talking to the Indian government right now after they revoked this article 370 of their own constitution and they annexed Kashmir illegally against the UN Security Council resolution which had guaranteed the people that they would be able to hold a referendum, a plebiscite, to decide their destiny.”
Read more: I shudder to say ‘Genocide’ but I must: FM Qureshi worries for Kashmir
Earlier in an interview with Russian broadcasting channel RT, Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned the Narendra Modi-led government’s decision to use blatant force to subdue and oppress the Kashmiri people and intimidate them into accepting the unlawful decision of abolishing Article 370 of the Indian Constitution.
The premier said that India has been usurped by a “fascist, racist government” and the extremist ideology of the Hindu supremacist organization, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
The world cannot feign ignorance as it did at Munich in 1938. The fascist, Hindu-Supremacist design of the Modi Govt with its ethnic cleansing & genocide of Muslims' agenda in IOJK, in India itself (Assam) & beyond into AJK is now overt for all the world to see.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) September 5, 2019
He also lamented that the international community has a great responsibility, and so far, he observed that the world has not reacted in the manner that is befitting. He said, “The UN has the responsibility to act now,” he said. “The US, France, Germany, Russia and other countries should step forward to play their role.”
He stressed that contrary to New Delhi’s claims, Kashmir is not an internal matter of India, but in fact, it is an internationalized issue as per the United Nations Charter, and multiple UN Security Council resolutions. He demanded that the Indian government must hold a plebiscite or referendum to give the Kashmiris their justified right for self-determination, as deliberated by the UNSC resolutions decades ago.
Tensions between the nuclear-armed South Asian rivals continue to soar, and hit a new low after New Delhi unilaterally and unlawfully abolished the partial autonomous status of the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir.
Read more: World continues to appease Modi, while Kashmir bleeds?
In February, the two nations engaged in a full-swing military escalation after India Air Force attempted to carry out the botched Balakot Strike, and shortly after, the Pakistan Air Force shot down an Indian fighter jet, arresting Indian Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman.
Since gaining independence from British colonial rule in 1947, the two countries have fought two of their full-scale wars over the Kashmir dispute, which has now become a flashpoint for a nuclear conflict.