New York/Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday said he was ‘disappointed’ with the lack of response from the international community over the Kashmir issue.
Addressing a press conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Khan said: "(I am) Disappointed by the international community. If eight million Europeans or Jews or even eight Americans were put under siege, would the reaction have been the same? There's no pressure yet on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lift the siege. We'll keep putting the pressure... What are 900,000 troops doing there? Once the curfew is lifted, god knows what is going to happen after that…”
Khan also acknowledged India's economic stature and global prominence while responding to why Pakistan's narrative on Kashmir is being overlooked. "The reason is India, people look upon India as a market of 1.2 billion people... Some are appalled by it but by the end of it, they think of it as a market," he said.
Asked what options are left for him if the international community doesn’t respond, Khan said, “What options do we have apart from this? Attack India, clearly, that’s not an option apart from that, we are doing everything possible. Apart from starting a war we are doing everything possible.”
Pakistan PM plans to continue raising the Kashmir issue and will be speaking about it in his speech at the UNGA on Friday.
Pakistan has made several attempts to internationalise the issue but has not received support, with the global community agreeing that the Kashmir conflict must be resolved between the two neighbours. India has maintained that the decision to repeal Article 370 was an internal matter.
Khan and his delegation have raised Kashmir at every forum and meeting and, by his own admission, done everything possible. He listed out the world leaders he has spoken to— US President Donald Trump, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Germany’s Angela Merkel and France’s Emmanuel Macron.
Earlier this month, Pakistan Interior Minister Brig Ijaz admitted that Islamabad has failed to get support from the international community over its stand on Kashmir. "People do not believe us but they believe them,” the minister had said.
Tensions between India and Pakistan have been on the rise since the Modi government decided to scrap Article 370 which gave special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
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