Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan accused his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi of undermining India’s legacy of secularism.
“India fell under the control of an extremist ideology (propounded by) the RSS,” Khan said, referring to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, to which Modi belongs and which is often accused of stirring up anti-Muslim hatred.
“What India’s Muslims are facing resembles what happened during the extermination of Jews in Nazi Germany,” Khan said in an interview with Al Jazeera. The RSS’ origin dates back to the early 20th century and its thinking is widely believed to influence the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) ideology. It has always maintained Hinduism is the basis of Indian nationalism, a stand which has attracted millions of followers, often called bhakts (devotees).
Khan, who came to power in August 2018, said his country has exhausted all possible routes to peacefully resolve its dispute with India but economic interests ultimately prevented its efforts from bearing fruit. Speaking on Kashmir, he said, the Indian government’s revocation of Article 370 in August 2019 turned the disputed region into an “open-air prison”.
Article 370 was the basis of Kashmir’s accession to the Indian Union at a time when erstwhile princely states had the choice to join either India or Pakistan after their independence from British rule in 1947. The article, which came into effect in 1949, granted Indian-administered Kashmir special status, with the Muslim-majority region given jurisdiction to make its own laws in all matters except finance, defence, foreign affairs and communications. But many of those powers were gradually dilutedby New Delhi.
“Within a year, Kashmir has been closed off and its economy destroyed,” Khan said, adding “800,000 Indian troops have imposed an open air-prison on Kashmiris.”
On simmering tensions in the Gulf region, Khan said Pakistan played an important role in defusing the situation Saudi Arabia and Iran. He said Pakistan prevented a military escalation from taking place in the volatile region. He noted a military confrontation between the two regional powers constituted the worst possible scenario for the Middle East, adding that despite the slow pace of results, Islamabad’s mediation efforts were continuing. “Our mediation between Iran and Saudi Arabia has not stopped and we are making progress, but slowly,” Khan told Al Jazeera.
He added, “We have done our best to avoid a military confrontation between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and our efforts have succeeded.” Tensions have been rising between Riyadh and Tehran over several issues, including the war in Yemen where Saudi Arabia is battling the Houthi rebel movement.
He said Pakistan would maintain its neutral stance in the dispute between Saudi Arabia and Turkey, whose relationship has soured following the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul in October 2018.
Asked about his absence from a Muslim summit held in Malaysia last year, Khan said he decided not to attend the meeting in order to preserve unity among Muslims, insisting Islamabad viewed both Ankara and Riyadh – which boycotted the event – as reliable partners in several fields.