KARACHI: Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent comments after his overture of peace talks with India amounted to a “strange and significant” statement nothing like anything from his predecessors, former military officers, and senior analysts have said.
Addressing government officials in Lahore on Sunday, PM Khan said that his country will not accept any act of hostility and will respond in kind if it comes to that. “Our wish for peace should not be mistaken as a sign of weakness,” he told bureaucrats of the Punjab government. His statement came a day after the Indian Army Chief Bipin Rawat threatened Islamabad with “retaliation” for allegedly killing a border guard and policemen in Indian-administered Kashmir.
“Prime Minister Imran Khan speaks from his mind,” Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry told Arab News.
A day earlier, PM Khan in a tweet said he was disappointed at what he described as “the arrogant and negative response by India” to his call for the resumption of the peace dialogue.
“The statement from PM Khan is a statement from the nation. This specific statement, and all other statements made by Imran Khan, are reflective of the true feelings of his nation,” the information minister added.
The tweet and address in Lahore invited reaction from the other side of the border. Former External Affairs Minister of India Shashi Tharoor said Khan had a “fairly clear level of military backing” and he “could be a wonderful face for peace or an effective voice for hostility, depending on what the army wants of him.”
Former military officers and defense experts in Pakistan, however, do not agree.
Tharoor is an eloquent orator and well-read commentator on regional issues but citing the age-old Indian rhetoric seems quite odd, said the Karachi-based defense analyst Waheed Akhter Bukhari.
“His whole argument relying on the ‘army running the show in Pakistan and civilian leadership being under their watchful eyes’ rhetoric is, in fact, an insult to the capabilities of ‘his longtime friend’ Imran Khan,” he said.
Khan is the first prime minister of Pakistan and among the very few people of his generation to have a Twitter account, and he uses it regularly, said senior analyst Shahzad Chaudhry, adding that what Khan expressed hadn’t come from anywhere else.
“India, in contradiction of the diplomatic norms, used very harsh language by saying that the ‘true face of Imran Khan has been exposed’ in response to his peace overture,” Chaudhry told Arab News. This, Chaudhry said, led the Pakistani premier to tweet the harsh statement but it was still not as harsh as it was interpreted by some in India and Pakistan.
Major General (rtd.) Ejaz Awan, a senior defense analyst, said previous governments were extra-diplomatic toward India but this time “the political and military leadership are on the same page.”
PM Khan’s language toward India ‘strange and significant,’ analysts say
PM Khan’s language toward India ‘strange and significant,’ analysts say
- The current political and military leadership are on the same page, say experts
- Imran Khan has a “fairly clear level of military backing,” says India
Pakistan PM invites UAE investment across tech and resource sectors at National Day event
- Shehbaz Sharif says the UAE remains a key economic partner and continues to lend ‘critical support’ to Pakistan
- UAE envoy says both nations have potential for cooperation in renewable energy, AI and economic diversification
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is ready to welcome investment from the United Arab Emirates across emerging technologies and resource sectors, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Monday, as both countries marked the 54th National Day of the Gulf country in Islamabad.
Speaking at the ceremony attended by senior ministers, diplomats and business leaders, Sharif said the UAE remained a key economic partner for Pakistan and continued to lend “critical support” to the country’s stabilizing economy.
“Pakistan takes great pride in its strategic partnership with the UAE, which continues to deepen across every domain of life,” he said. “With Pakistan’s economy stabilizing, we stand ready to welcome Emirati investment in renewable energy, AI, fintech, agriculture and minerals.”
Sharif praised the UAE’s leadership and recalled his earliest memories of the Gulf nation as “a land that believed in possibilities long before they became realities,” saying the country’s progress under President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan commanded “profound admiration.”
UAE Ambassador Salem Al Bawab Al Zaabi said the Emirates was committed to strengthening ties with Pakistan in areas including the economy, energy and artificial intelligence.
He said the two countries shared a “deep-rooted friendship built on mutual respect, shared values and a common vision for regional peace and development.”
“We see tremendous potential for collaboration in renewable energy, artificial intelligence, sustainability and economic diversification,” the ambassador said, adding that the UAE aimed to broaden the scope of its economic relations with Pakistan.
The UAE hosts around 1.8 million Pakistani expatriates, one of the country’s largest overseas communities, who Sharif said contributed “tirelessly” to the Gulf state’s development.
Sharif and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar also joined the UAE ambassador in a cake-cutting ceremony to mark the occasion.
