"Wanted To Improve Strained Ties With India During My Tenure": Imran Khan
NDTV
Imran Khan said then Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa was even more inclined to have better ties with India.
Pakistan's ousted prime minister Imran Khan on Monday said he wanted to improve strained relations with India during his tenure but the revocation of Kashmir's special status became a "hurdle." Khan, the 70-year-old former cricketer-turned-politician, also said that then Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa was even more inclined to have better ties with India.
"I wanted to improve relations with India during my three-and-a-half year tenure but the RSS ideology and revocation of (Jammu and Kashmir) special status became a hurdle," the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party chairman said during his interaction with a group of foreign journalists at his Zaman Park residence here.
Khan said after India revoked Kashmir's status in 2019 his government did not push for talks. "We wanted India to reverse its decision first and hold peace talks," he said.
Responding to a question from the Press Trust of India about who was running foreign policy towards India during his tenure, he or then Gen Bajwa, Khan replied: "I was the boss...I was running the foreign policy. However, let me tell you that Gen Bajwa was even more inclined to have better ties with India." Khan recently said he did not have the power during his tenure as Gen Bajwa was the man who was calling the shots.
