Indian forces have turned occupied Kashmir into a prison: PM

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the Kashmir dispute is the major impediment to trade cooperation between Pakistan and India.

In an interview with Belgian channel VRT, he said Indian forces have turned the whole valley of Occupied Kashmir into a jail. He regretted that India is denying Kashmiris the right of self-determination in line with UN resolutions as well as the promises made by Indian leaders.

PM Imran Khan said he does not see much hope from the current Modi government in India to resolve the Kashmir issue, because he has an extremist ideology of RSS.

“I do not see much hope with this (Indian) government but do see in future that a strong Indian leadership will also want this problem to be resolved,” said the prime minister.

“I feel that if there will be a strong and clear-headed leadership in India this problem would be solved. Every problem has a solution,” he added.

He said the founding fathers of RSS were inspired by the racist Nazi ideology and have placed eight million Kashmiris, who are Muslims, in an open prison.

“The founding fathers of the RSS, which is now ruling India, is inspired by Hitler… the racist Arian philosophy of Hitler. That is why they have put 80 million Kashmiris, who are Muslims, in an open prison,” he said.

The prime minister hoped that in future an Indian government and strong leadership would want the Kashmir dispute to be resolved.

Regarding peace in Afghanistan, the prime minister said that things were moving in the right direction. He hoped the peace deal between the United States and the Afghan Taliban would bring peace and stability.

“It is for the first time things moving in the right direction, the Americans wanting peace and dialogue with Taliban and the Taliban are now sitting with the Americans. The next phase would be ceasefire and then possibly an agreement and in the next phase Taliban will sit with the Afghan government,” he hoped.

About Pakistan’s economic situation, the prime minister said the last year was very difficult for the government but now the current account deficit has been brought down by 75 percent in one year. He said Pakistan’s economy will show signs of recovery this year.