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No talks with India unless Kashmir special status restored: Imran Khan

Khan had in August said that he would no longer seek a dialogue with New Delhi and raised the threat of a military escalation between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

No talks with India unless Kashmir special status restored: Imran Khan

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. (Photo: Facebook | @ImranKhanOfficial)

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday stressed that “there was no use talking to India unless Jammu and Kashmir’s special status is restored”.

He also pledged to present the “Kashmir case” at the UN General Assembly “like no one ever did before”.

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He made the statements at a presser on Wednesday after inaugurating the Integrated Transit Trade Management System at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, Dawn news reported.

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“Unless they (New Delhi government) lift curfew in Kashmir and rescind the revocation of Article 370, there is no chance of negotiations (with India),” Imran Khan said.

He also warned against Pakistanis wanting to go and fight in Kashmir.

“Anyone from Pakistan wanting to fight in Kashmir or go for jihad in Kashmir would do the greatest injustice to the Kashmiris. Such an act would be an act of animosity towards the Kashmiris,” the Pakistani PM said.

The Prime Minister’s remarks come a day ahead of his trip to Saudi Arabia on Thursday before departing to the US to attend the 74th United Nations General Assembly session.

Imran Khan had last week said that there was no question of talking to New Delhi after it abrogated Article 370.

He further refused to rule out the possibility of an “accidental war” with India over the Kashmir issue.

Khan had in August said that he would no longer seek a dialogue with New Delhi and raised the threat of a military escalation between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

However, he later asserted that his country would never ever start a war with India and even not use nuclear weapons first.

Meanwhile, India is pulling out all the stops to counter the Pakistani narrative on Jammu and Kashmir at the UN General Assembly meeting on 27 September.

Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan are scheduled to speak at the UNGA. With Khan declaring his resolve to highlight Kashmir in his speech, India is gearing up to rebut him point by point.

Pakistan has been attempting to internationalise the Kashmir issue following the abrogation of Article 370, that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

At the 42nd session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on September 10, Pakistan tried to present a false narrative on Kashmir with its Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi stating that the Valley had been converted into the “largest prison” with people being denied access to basic amenities following the abrogation of Article 370.

Pakistan had knocked the doors of the UNHRC after it failed to gain global attention on Kashmir issue at the UNSC.

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