AMN / Islamabad
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday said he was ready to hold talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi as he conceded that it was not in Islamabad’s interest to allow use of its territory for terror activities outside the country.
“It is not in our interest to allow use of Pakistan’s territory for terror outside,” Khan said during an interaction with a group of Indian journalists here.
Khan said that people in Pakistan want peace with India and he will be happy to meet Indian Prime Minister Modi and talk to him.
“The mindset of people here has changed,” Khan said.
When asked whether it is possible to resolve the Kashmir issue, the Pakistan prime minister said “nothing is impossible”.
“I am ready for talks on any issue. There can’t be a military solution for Kashmir,” he said.
He, however, said the gesture for peace cannot be one-sided.
“We are willing to wait for (general) elections to get over in India for a gesture from New Delhi,” Khan said.
Khan said he had tried to reach out to New Delhi since the day he assumed office but received a “bad response” after which he “decided to wait until after the Indian election for a gesture from their side.”
The “bad response” referred to here is when a meeting scheduled between the foreign ministers of the two countries along the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) was called off by New Delhi citing “unclean intentions”.
On punishing Mumbai attack mastermind and Jamat-ud Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed, who is carrying a USD 10 million US bounty, Khan said, “There are UN sanctions against Hafiz Saeed. There is already a clampdown on him.”