Anti-Pakistan sentiments being aroused in India for electioneering: Imran

Islamabad, Jan 8 (IANS) Prime Minister Imran Khan has again accused New Delhi of opting out of a bilateral dialogue and claimed that anti-Pakistan sentiments were being aroused in India for the sake of campaigning for the forthcoming general election.

Khan made the comments in an interview to Turkish broadcaster TRT in which he said that two nuclear-armed neighbours opting for the resolution of bilateral issues through a war would be a suicide, Geo News reported on Tuesday.

"Two nuclear-capable states can't even afford a cold war, let alone a nuclear war," Khan said in the interview. He was in Turkey last week for a two-day visit.

The Pakistan's Premier claimed that New Delhi opted out of a bilateral dialogue several times due to the upcoming polls. He said "India was told that if it takes one step forward, we will take two... but it rejected Pakistan's offer for talks several times".

Talking about the Kashmir issue, Khan blamed India for "committing human rights violations in the region" and said "it will never succeed in suppressing the freedom movement of Kashmiris".

But he added that the solution to the Kahsmir lies in talks between the two neighbours. He, however, claimed that even the UN admitted to the indigenous Kashmiri struggle for independence, the report said.

Khan had earlier also slammed New Delhi, saying that India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party had an "anti-Muslim" and "anti-Pakistan" approach.

Praising Pakistan's ties with China in the TRT interview, he said when his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party came to power, the country was facing a record current account deficit, but Beijing turned out to be "a breath of fresh air at the critical juncture".