Give peace a chance, pleads Pakistan PM Imran Khan after PM Modi’s ‘son of Pathan’ barb

Mangalore Today News Network

Pakistan, Feb 25, 2019 : Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday said that he is favour of peace in the region and stands by his words that if India provides Pakistan with actionable intelligence with regard to the Pulwama terror attack, he will immediately act, Yahoonews reported.

 

According to a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office, Khan said that Pakistan wants stability in the region and that PM Narendra Modi should give peace a chance.

The remark comes a day after PM Modi asked his Pakistani counterpart to keep his word as a son of Pathan and fight poverty and illiteracy together with India instead of fighting each other.

In my meeting with PM Modi in December 2015, we had agreed that since poverty alleviation is a priority for our region, we would not allow any terrorist incident to derail peace efforts, however long before Pulwama, these efforts were derailed in September 2018,” the statement by Imran Khan said in a reference to the cancellation of a proposed meeting between the foreign ministers of the neighbouring countries on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly last year.

“Sadly, now peace remains elusive due to elections in India, he added.

This is the second time in a week when Khan has spoken publicly on the Pulwama incident. In a televised statement last week, Khan had promised to conduct an investigation if India provides actionable evidence and also warned that Islamabad will retaliate if attacked by New Delhi.

Addressing a rally in Rajasthan on Saturday, PM Modi took a dig at Khan, saying the time has come for him to stand true to his words after the Pulwama attack.

Recalling his conversation with Khan during a congratulatory call after the cricketer-turned-politician became Pakistan’s premier in August last year, PM Modi said, “People know him as a cricketer. I told him there has been enough of fights between India and Pakistan. Pakistan got nothing, every fight we have won. I told him let us fight against poverty and illiteracy. He told me, ‘Modiji, I am the son of Pathan. I speak true and I do true .

Today, it is the time he stands true to his words. I will see whether he stands true to his words or not,” he had added.

The February 14 terror attack in Pulwama of south Kashmir left at least 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) soldiers dead. Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack.