ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has sought an explanation from the government over the recent interview of Prime Minister Imran Khan in which he has expressed the ‘desire’ for the victory of Narendra Modi’s nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the coming general elections in India.

PPP’s central information secretary and MNA Dr Nafisa Shah in a statement on Wednesday termed the prime minister’s statement contradictory to the earlier remarks made by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi that New Delhi was planning another military action against Pakistan.

“It seems that Imran Khan has become an election agent of Narendra Modi,” she said, adding that the nation wanted to know as to why Mr Khan was desperate to have a meeting with Mr Modi.

Palwasha Khan calls the Indian leader murderer of Muslims

Separately, speaking at a news conference, PPP’s deputy information secretary Palwasha Khan said that such a statement could only be given by “a chief supporter” of Mr Modi.

She said that previously the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf used to taunt former prime minister Nawaz Sharif over his ‘friendship’ with Mr Modi and even used to dub him a traitor, but now Mr Khan was praying for the victory of Mr Modi.

In an interview to a small group of foreign journalists, Prime Minister Imran Khan had stated that he thought there might be a better chance of peace talks with India if Mr Modi’s BJP won the general elections.

Mr Khan had said if the next Indian government was led by Congress, it might be too scared to seek a settlement with Pakistan over Kashmir, fearing a backlash from the right wing.

Apparently offering India an olive branch, the prime minister had said Islamabad was determined to dismantle all Pakistan-based militias and that the government had full support from the army in this regard.

Earlier on Sunday, Foreign Minister Qureshi had warned that Islamabad had “reliable intelligence” that India would attack again this month.

Palwasha Khan said that on the one hand, the foreign minister was giving dates of the possible Indian attacks and, on the other, Mr Khan was praying for the BJP’s victory.

Ms Khan said that Mr Modi was a murderer of the Muslims in Gujarat and he had also confessed to Indian role in the breaking up of Pakistan in 1971. Moreover, she added, it was Mr Modi’s government which had sent its spy Kulbhushan Jadhav to Pakistan for creating unrest in Balochistan.

Without naming anyone, the PPP office-bearer asked ‘institutions’ to take notice of the prime minister’s statement and called for formation of a joint investigation team to probe all the controversial statements of Imran Khan.

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2019