Imran Khan calls for talks to de-escalate rising tensions with India

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday once again invited India for talks and urged better sense should prevail.

Addressing the nation in the wake of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) shooting down two Indian aircraft inside Pakistani airspace, the premier said, “I wanted to take you into confidence regarding the situation arising since yesterday. We offered India that we are ready to cooperate with them in any kind of investigation after the Pulwama attack.”

“We know how the families of those killed in Pulwama incident must have felt. We have been the victims of war for decades. I have been to hospitals visiting survivors of bomb attacks, the ones who are left behind, who are maimed and left crippled. We know what war means. Since the beginning we have asked India to share actionable evidence with us. It is nowhere in the interest of Pakistan for it to be used as a base for militancy,” he continued.

“But I had a hunch that India would escalate, and that is why in my earlier speech I had stated that if India plays war games, we will retaliate. We waited, and today we took action. It was our plan to not cause any collateral damage, and not to cause any casualties. We simply wanted to show capability,” the premier explained.

PM Imran continued, “Two Indian MiGs crossed Pakistan’s borders, and we shot them down. I also want to state that the pilot is with us.”

“I want to now address India and say let sanity prevail. Let’s think sensibly. All wars in the world have been started on miscalculations on the time and the human cost of war. This was the same with the First World War, with the Second World War, the war on terror, the Vietnam War. The history of the world shows us wars have always been miscalculation,” he asserted.

“I ask India; with our weapons capability…. on both sides, can we afford a miscalculation? It will neither be in my control or Modi’s. The hurt that has been caused due to the Pulwama attack, we want to come to the table and talk about terrorism that effects us both. We are ready. Let better sense prevail,” the premier urged. (Agencies)