MUZAFFARABAD, Nov 15: Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman, Imran Khan, on Thursday asked India to go for peaceful solution to the lingering Kashmir issue as military might could not resolve any problem.
“I want to give a message to India: if military prowess was a solution, a super power such as the United States would not have failed in Afghanistan,” he said in his address to a big gathering in Mirpur, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).“India should pull its troops out of the occupied Kashmir and find a peaceful solution to the longstanding dispute,” he added.
It was the first major political activity of Mr Khan in AJK where his party is yet to launch a formal organisational setup. The event was also addressed by Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, Azam Khan Swati, Abrarul Haq and others. The PTI chief said Pakistan and India could bring prosperity in the lives of their people by spending the amount reserved for weapons on the welfare of the people.
He said Pakistan needed a strong government to resolve Kashmir issue, adding that the PTI would settle the issue in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiris through peaceful talks.
“There will be no prosperity until the peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue,” he said.
He said the issue of Kashmir had headed towards settlement, but the (incumbent) weak government in Islamabad had put it on the back burner.
Criticising the war on terror, he said around 40,000 army personnel had been sent to tribal areas and each month, Rs90 billion were being wasted on Americas war.
“American drones and Pakistani troops are killing people hence the rise in suicide attacks in the country,” he said adding that his party would stop drone attacks and establish peace after coming to power.
Mr Khan said there were two sets of law in Pakistan; the weak were sent to jails for their crimes while the mighty enjoyed the NRO (National Reconciliation Ordinance).
Talking about the lawlessness in Karachi, he said the abduction of traders in the metropolis had become a business.
“Let me assure you that PTI would establish peace in Karachi,” Imran Khan vowed, adding that the PTI would introduce uniform education system in the country.