New Delhi:
If there is one thing Prime Minister Narendra Modi has slammed the Congress during his election rallies for 2019 Lok Sabha polls, it is the alleged support the Grand Old Party gets in Pakistan. The prime minister even said that the manifesto of the Congress party stands more for Pakistan than for India. However, Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan thinks the other way. Imran Khan actually wants Narendra Modi’s BJP to win the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as he believed there would be better chances of resolving the Kashmir issue if the right-wing party comes to power.
"Perhaps if the BJP - a right-wing party - wins, some kind of settlement in Kashmir could be reached," Imran Khan told foreign journalists in an interview.
The Pakistani premier said that Modi, like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was contesting the elections based on “fear and nationalist feeling”. Khan said that BJP’s promise to abrogate Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir was a major concern for Pakistan, even though he believed the pledge could also be a part of Modi’s electioneering.
Khan said that Islamabad was fully determined to dismantle the terrorist groups operating from the Pakistani soil, including those active in Kashmir. He said that Kashmir was a political issue and that there was no military solution for the issue. The cricketer-turned-politician said that people of Kashmir suffered more when terrorists from the Pakistani side crossed the border as they led to the military crackdown.
Recently, India and Pakistan came at the brink of war after the February 14 Pulwama attack and New Delhi’s response, subsequently. Indian Air Force conducted air strikes on terror camps inside Pakistani territory to avenge the Pulwama attack. Following the IAF strike, Pakistan violated Indian air space and shot down an Indian fighter jet and captured its pilot. In the aerial dog fight, Indian Air Force also shot down a Pakistani F-16 fighter jet.
Following the strike, experts said, BJP’s re-election bid got a major boost due to the patriotism wave and Imran Khan claimed India could take further military action against Pakistan if the atmosphere turns against Modi.
