World

Good relationship with India impossible till BJP remains in power: Imran Khan

Good relationship with India impossible till BJP remains in power: Imran Khan

TIL Desk/World/Islamabad/ Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has sought the need for his country to mend ties with India, but made it clear that a good relationship would be impossible till the nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) remains in power, according to a media report.

In an interview on Monday, the PTI Chairman shed light on the economic benefits that could be achieved if the two neighbours establish trade with each other. “The benefits would be enormous,” he said, but then contended that New Delhi’s stance on Kashmir is the main impediment.

“I think it’s possible, but the BJP government is so hardline, it has a nationalistic stance on issues. It is frustrating as you have no chance (for a resolution) as they whip up these nationalistic feelings. And once this genie of nationalism is out of the bottle, it is very difficult to put it back in again,” the former premier told.

Khan added that Pakistan had to cool off its relationship with India when the neighbouring country took away the statehood of Kashmir. Pakistan formally downgraded its trade relations with India in August 2019 to the level of Israel with which Islamabad has no trade ties at all. The decision had come as a reaction to India’s decision to revoke Article 370 of its Constitution that granted Kashmir a special status.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *