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Thursday March 28, 2024

Imran fails to incite army against Nawaz

By Tariq Butt
April 23, 2016

News Analysis

ISLAMABAD: Amid intense applause for the army chief’s action, removing six military officers from service for corruption, and ruckus over the Panama Papers leaks, another indiscreet but desperate statement of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan to provoke the army against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif largely went unnoticed.

“The prime minister is maligning the army globally; Nawaz Sharif tells his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi that he was his friend, but the army doesn’t allow improvement of relations with India,” Imran Khan told a TV channel on the day the removal of military officers became public.

When Defence Minister Khawaja Asif was asked by a TV anchor to comment on the PTI chief’s remarks, he said he wouldn’t because of their low quality and lack of depth. It will be instructive to note certain statements of Imran Khan vis-a-vis Pakistan’s ties with India with reference to the Pakistan army.

His eagerness to have normal relations with India reflected in his remarks runs counter to his tirade against the prime minister, who has been careful in making any worthwhile progress in Pak-India ties.

Whatever efforts Nawaz Sharif has so far put in, there has not been any visible breakthrough between the two neighbours. In December last, Imran Khan said if he would have been prime minister, he would have made the army understand why relations with India were necessary.

In fact, he was saying that the military was the main hurdle in normalizing ties with India and he could overcome this obstacle due to his leadership qualities. His hurling of allegations on the prime minister apart, the PTI chief himself has articulated more than once his keenness to improve relations with India.

When he visited New Delhi in December last and met Modi, Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup said the two leaders welcomed the recent developments in bilateral ties between India and Pakistan, and hoped that these would lead to closer cooperation.

Imran Khan had then stated that any move that can improve bilateral relations between Pakistan and India, such as a cricket series, should be adopted.

The meeting between Imran Khan and Modi took place days after Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj visited Islamabad and met Nawaz Sharif and others. The two sides agreed to reinitiate the comprehensive dialogue process to discuss all outstanding issues including terrorism and Kashmir. They noted the successful talks on terrorism and security related issues in Bangkok by the two National Security Advisers (NSAs) and decided that the NSAs will continue to address all issues connected to terrorism.

Imran Khan had also shown desperation for a meeting with Modi and had requested for it. When the PTI spokesman had claimed that the meeting was held on the invitation of the Indian premier, Vikas Swarup had denied and said that it was held on the PTI chief’s request.

Imran Khan had also said that the friendly visit of Indian prime minister is a positive step toward melting the ice between the two neighbours. He said that the peaceful and friendly relations between India and Pakistan are in favour of the whole region because both countries have great importance in the region.

He said that to improve the relations, such meetings could help greatly and give hope of dialogue and open the way for conflict solving.

A few years ago, the PTI chairman had told an Indian TV channel: “I grew up hating India because I grew up in Lahore and there were massacres of 1947, so much bloodshed and anger. But as I started touring India, I got such love and friendship there that all this disappeared. As time passed, I realised that there's so much we have in common. We have a similar history; there’s so much in culture that’s so similar compared to Western countries. Above all, there is so much the people of two countries (can) benefit from if we have a civilized relationship; if my party came to power, I would do my utmost to improve relations between the two countries; I pray to God to allow me to work for better India-Pakistan relations because I, for one, have received so much love in India; absolutely, I have no prejudice against any country, and more specifically, India.”

Had Nawaz Sharif made such remarks, Imran Khan would had run a consistent campaign and announced a protest or sit-in to dislodge him. His latest bid to incite the army against the prime minister was part of his desperate efforts to get Nawaz Sharif out of office at all costs.