ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto has called Prime Minister Imran Khan a “security risk” over remarks about the country’s nuclear deterrence.
In an interview with Jonathan Swan of ‘Axios on HBO’, PM Imran had said that once the Kashmir issue is resolved, there will no longer be any need for nuclear deterrence.
“The moment there is a settlement on Kashmir, I believe Pakistan and India will live as civilised neighbours without nuclear deterrence,” the premier said.
Addressing a rally in Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s (AJK) Kotli, the PPP chairman said, “The selected says we do not need a nuclear programme if Kashmir issue is resolved. Doesn’t that make him a security risk.”
Bilawal also said that the prime minister has been making mistakes whenever he talks about the Kashmir issue and hasn’t been able to form any policy on such a critical matter. “We will not let Kashmir be sold. No one will be allowed to dictate to the Kashmiris,” he added.
The PPP Chairman further said that when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi revoked the semi-autonomous status of Occupied Kashmir, PM Imran merely said ‘what can we do?’
“What kind of a coward prime minister do we have?,” he questioned and added that if the people of IIOJK are facing oppression at the hands of Modi then the people of AJK are also facing the wrath of PM Imran’s government.
Bilawal said that if Pakistan is standing on its feet today then it is because of the PPP. “Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto gave this country nuclear programme and Benazir Bhutto the missile programme,” he added.
He said that wherever you go in AJK, you will find infrastructure built during the PPP tenures. “The PPP established 19 colleges in Kotli alone,” he claimed.
Since his party’s formation, Bilawal said, its policy has always been that the Kashmir issue would be resolved only by the Kashmiris and to date it is still our policy. “Only people of Kashmir can decide their fate,” he further said.
