“I am hoping that we don’t have to wait until Sidhu becomes prime minister for there to be peace between India and Pakistan,” said Imran jockingly
AMN / WEB DESK
While appreciating the presence sikh delegats from India and other part of the world during the groundbreaking of the long-awaited corridor connecting Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur area of Narowal district, Paksitan Prime Minister Imran Khan said: “Pakistan and India cannot conceive of the opportunities God has given us. Whenever I visited India for conferences, I was told that politicians are united, but the army won’t allow friendship,” he claimed.
“I am saying today, that our political leaders, our army, and all other institutions are all on one page. We wish to move forward, we want a civilised relationship. We have just one problem, Kashmir. If man can walk on the moon, what problems are there that we cannot resolve?” he asked.
“I assure you that we can solve this problem. But determination and big dreams are both necessary. Imagine, once trade begins, once our relationship is improved, how much both nations could benefit,” he said. “Both countries can get ahead.”
“War cannot take place between us. Both countries have nuclear arms, it would be madness,” he said.
“The citizens of both countries want peace. It is just the leadership which needs to be on one page.”
“If India takes one step forward, we will take two steps forward in friendship,” he reiterated.
“I don’t understand why Navjot Singh Sidhu was criticised so harshly when he visited last,” the prime minister said.”
The PM joked that Sidhu had accumulated such a large fan following in Punjab that if he ran in elections here, he would win. “I am hoping that we don’t have to wait until Sidhu becomes prime minister for there to be peace between India and Pakistan,” he added.
“The happiness I see in you today, if I were to explain to my Muslim brother and sisters, is that imagine that you are standing 4km outside Madina and cannot go in, and you are then given the chance to go. That is the happiness I see here.”
“We will keep improving the Kartarpur darbar for you,” he told Sikh pilgrims. “We will keep giving you facilities … When you come next year, we will provide you with every sort of facility,” he said.
“Where Pakistan and India stand today, we have seen such a situation for 70 years now,” PM Khan said. “We will stay stuck this way unless we break the shackles of the past and stop blaming each other. There have been mistakes on both sides.”
“We should not live in the past. It should be used to learn lessons,” he asserted.
“We still do not have the resolve to decide that, no matter what, we must improve our ties,” he said. “France and Germany, who have fought so many wars, are now living as neighbours. They have trade ties despite killing thousands of each other’s people. But their leaders one day decided that we will break their shackles and they did.”