Kashmir received lukewarm response by global community, admits Imran Khan
What's the story
Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan attempted to raise Kashmir issue on international forums, but only got rebuffed. And the chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has now admitted the matter received a lukewarm response. Speaking to Germany's state-owned DW broadcaster, DW, Khan claimed only commercial interests get attention from western countries. This statement comes after UNSC shunned another bid of Pakistan to discuss Kashmir.
Context
Kashmir's status changed in August, Pakistan saw red
In August 2019, the Indian government revoked provisions of Article 370, that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Changing the constitutional status of the Valley will put an end to Pakistan-based terrorism, the government said, but Islamabad claimed it was done to suppress Kashmiris. Alleging human rights violations, Pakistan raised the Kashmir issue on several platforms but was snubbed.
Statement
Kashmir's "struggle" is bigger than Hong Kong's, said Khan
Expressing displeasure at response Pakistan's attempts received, Khan said, "Unfortunately, commercial interests are more important for Western countries." He claimed since India is a huge market, the "struggles" of 8 million Kashmiris and minorities didn't get the attention it deserves, added Khan. "Consider the sort of media attention the Hong Kong protests are getting. The tragedy of Kashmir is much greater," he went on.
Statement
Khan compared RSS ideology with Nazis
Devoting a large part of his interview to anti-India rhetorics, Khan said India never took his peace overtures seriously because of RSS ideology. "The RSS, a political organization founded in 1925, was inspired by the German Nazis, and its founding fathers believed in racial supremacy," he added. Like Nazi ideology, RSS is based on hatred for "Muslims and other minorities, including Christians," he added.
Quote
Initiated peace process, India didn't respond: Khan
Talking about his "efforts", Khan added, "In my first speech as prime minister, I said that if India moved one step forward, we would take two steps. But I soon came to know that India didn't respond well to my offer because of RSS ideology."
Details
China's third attempt to raise Kashmir at UNSC failed
Not long ago, Pakistan and its all weather-ally China tried to raise Kashmir issue at UNSC. But none of the other 14 members took China's request seriously saying it was not the appropriate platform. This was China's third attempt to internationalize the matter, but the country failed again. Coming out of the meeting, China's Zhang Jun spoke about risk of escalation and advocated dialog.