{"id":93230,"date":"2020-09-03T20:07:59","date_gmt":"2020-09-03T15:07:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tns.world\/?p=93230"},"modified":"2020-09-03T20:07:59","modified_gmt":"2020-09-03T15:07:59","slug":"good-ties-with-china-us-sans-joining-any-camp-pm-imran-khan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tns.world\/?p=93230","title":{"rendered":"Good ties with China, US sans joining any \u2018camp\u2019: PM Imran Khan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>ISLAMABAD, Sep 3 (TNS): Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that Pakistan enjoyed good relationship with both China and the United States without siding with any particular \u201ccamp\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPakistan does not have to be in any camp. Why can\u2019t we have good relationship with everyone?,\u201d the Prime Minister said in an interview with Aljazeera television, aired on Thursday.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"da\" dir=\"ltr\">LIVE <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/APPNews?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#APPNews<\/a> : Prime Minister Imran Khan interview with Aljazeera TV <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/mDo9FwF4MZ\">https:\/\/t.co\/mDo9FwF4MZ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; APP \ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf0 \ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf0 (@appcsocialmedia) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/appcsocialmedia\/status\/1301423732313841666?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 3, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\nThe interview with senior correspondent Hashem Ahelbarra at \u2018Talk to Aljazeera\u2019 programme gave an insight into PM Imran Khan\u2019s views on his first two years in office, fight against corruption, coping with geopolitical changes, economy, media freedom and the country\u2019s response to coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>The prime minister said every country looked to its own interests and for Pakistan, \u201cOur future is now linked to China, progressing at faster pace than any other country in the world\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>He dismissed any renegotiation with China over amending the terms of $62 billion Economic Corridor, saying that \u201cthe relationship with China was better than even before\u201d.<br \/>\nImran Khan said Pakistan would like to benefit from the way China made progress and lifted its people out of poverty.<\/p>\n<p>Asked if Pakistan considered \u2018resetting\u2019 ties with the US being critical of CPEC, he said, \u201cWe probably have the best relationship with US right now as compared to a few years ago, because in Afghanistan, we are \u2018partners with peace\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Would Pakistan favour a power-sharing agreement in future between government of Afghanistan and Taliban, the Prime Minister said, \u201cWhatever the Afghans think is good for them, is good for us\u2026After Afghanistan, the country which has stakes in the Afghan peace, is in fact Pakistan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith 19 years of war and bloodshed in Afghanistan, anyone to believe in this utopia that suddenly they will all live together, I am afraid it is a very complicated situation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He mentioned that Pakistan tried its best to somehow get Taliban and the Afghan government sit on negotiation table, adding that \u201cThis is a miracle that\u2019s actually happening.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Imran Khan said Pakistan would use \u201cwhatever influence it could\u201d in restoration of peace in Afghanistan and recalled his persistent stance of supporting a political rather than a military solution to the conflict.<\/p>\n<p>He said spoilers, particularly India, did not want peace and stability to return to Afghanistan.<\/p>\n<p>On India\u2019s revocation of special status of Jammu and Kashmir, Imran Khan said Pakistan would continue highlighting the issue at international level, however he stressed that efforts were \u2018not only to support Kashmiri people, but the fact that the issue can have serious regional and global implications\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe ruling party in India inspired by RSS was thrice outlawed as terrorist organization and now, being nuclear-armed, it is controlling 1.3 billion people. This is a tragedy for sensible people of India to think over,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He said unfortunately, the commercial interests of certain countries made them ignore India\u2019s \u201chuge travesty of justice\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>On Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi seeking greater role of Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) in resolution of Kashmir dispute, he said, \u201cYes, we wanted OIC to take a more front role in the whole thing.\u201d However, he stressed that \u201cSaudi Arabia will always be a friend of Pakistan\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Imran Khan said he had all the support of military on his government\u2019s policies as both institutions worked in \u201ccomplete coordination\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe military stands with the democratic government\u2019s policies whether it relates to India or peaceful solution to Afghanistan. Everywhere, the military stands with us,\u201d he said, when asked to comment on relations with top army brass.<\/p>\n<p>The governments in past had \u201cchequered and uneasy relationships\u201d with army, however, \u201cWe have an excellent relationship. I honestly think it is the most harmonious relationship,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Imran Khan said the biggest change that his government brought in two years was the country ridding of its elite capture.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe difference between the Pakistan of now and before is that our main concentration is people-centric policies to ensure better justice, education and health systems,\u201d he said.<br \/>\nHe mentioned that for the first time, health insurance was announced for poor and a uniform education syllabus would also be launched by next year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are changing the way Pakistan will emerge and grow,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Asked if delivered his promises of economic turn-around, Khan recalled that his government inherited huge deficit, both external and internal, besides serious problems of power sector.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo country can immediately snap fingers to get reforms get implemented at once. It\u2019s a struggle. Moving the economy and its reformation is not an overnight thing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He said Pakistan was moving in right way with introduction of ease of doing businesses, however pointed that mindset of \u2018incentive structure\u2019 needed to be changed.<\/p>\n<p>To a question on success against corruption as regarded by host \u201calways a vocal critic of endemic corruption\u201d, the Prime Minister said presently, there was \u201cno mega corruption case in Pakistan after it was controlled by the government at top tier\u201d. For the first time in our history, the powerful who misused authority to make money, are being held accountable, he said.<\/p>\n<p>However, he admitted that corruption prevailed at lower levels requiring a struggle and lots of steps to counter.  Asked about successful overcoming of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Prime Minister said going for the \u201cdifficult but best decision of smart lockdown instead of blanket lockdown\u201d helped in decline of cases.<\/p>\n<p>He mentioned that the step taken in humanitarian perspective saved the poor daily bread-earners and informal workforce, who otherwise could starve to death. On freedom of media, he rejected the impression of any clampdown or intimidation of journalists, saying that his government was the one that received open and strong criticism from media, even in a propaganda manner.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnfortunately, it is us, the government and the ministers, who feel unprotected, it\u2019s not the media,\u201d he said, adding that \u201cIf someone publishes a fake news against a prime minister, who then takes him to the court, is that intimidation?<\/p>\n<p>Imran Khan said spending 20 years in England, he was aware that if similar happened to the British prime minister, the media would have been sued by millions for libel. On issue of Palestine, the Prime Minister said any one-sided settlement imposed on Palestinians would not work. \u201cIsrael must recognize a just settlement for a viable state for Palestinians,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Asked about the recent growing ties between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, he said \u201cthe issue was not going to die down even if some countries recognized Israel.\u201d  It (issue) will just keep festering and it is in Israel\u2019s interest to ensure a just settlement, he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ISLAMABAD, Sep 3 (TNS): Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that Pakistan enjoyed good relationship with both China and the United States without siding with any particular \u201ccamp\u201d. \u201cPakistan does not have to be in any camp. Why can\u2019t we have good relationship with everyone?,\u201d the Prime Minister said in an interview with Aljazeera television, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":91255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-islamabad","category-national"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=93230"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93231,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93230\/revisions\/93231"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/91255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=93230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=93230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=93230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}