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Minorities in India go through hard times, PM Imran.

Kotli, Azad Kashmir,

When the Kashmiris will get the right to self-determination, Pakistan will offer Kashmiris either to accede to Pakistan or remain independent, announced Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday, media broadcasters reported

Addressing a rally to mark the Kashmir Solidarity Day in Kotli, Imran Khan said the United Nations has miserably failed to honor its commitment made to the people of Kashmiris.

The prime minister said he would raise voice for the Kashmiris at all forums. He, however, offered India that Pakistan was ready to take two steps forward if it implemented UN resolutions on the Kashmir issue. “But please do not misconstrue our desire for peace as our weakness,” PM Imran Khan told India.

He said categorically that Pakistan had nothing to do with the Pulwama attack. “Modi abolished the special status of the state of Kashmir only to win elections. We extended an olive branch to India, but it spurned our offer,” he regretted.

He said it was unfortunate that the United Nations had not fulfilled the promise it had made to the Kashmiris. “It has failed to get its resolutions on the Kashmir issue implemented,” he regretted.

The prime minister assured the Kashmiris that the entire Pakistani nation stood by them. “In fact, the entire Muslim Ummah is with you. And even non-Muslims are with you,” he added.

He told the gathering that he talked to former US president Donald Trump thrice on the Kashmir issue. PM Imran made it clear to India it could not succeed against Kashmiris however high or mighty it may be.

The prime minister was of the view that India and the entire region suffered whenever adherents of RSS ideology came to power. “Today, minorities in India are going through hard times. Modi government is pitted against farmers,” he added.

Imran Khan said that India could never win over the resolute Kashmiri people by using force, as the implementation of UNSC resolution guaranteeing the right to self-determination was the only solution.

“World history tells that no powerful army could ever win over a population. When a nation stands united, they defeated even the powerful armies. The US, a superpower could not win in Vietnam. No superpower could win in Afghanistan. France could not win over the population in Algeria,” he said.

Reiterating his commitment to raising the Kashmiri’s voice across the world, the prime minister said that instead of suppressing the Kashmir people, Narendra Modi’s Hindutva ideology, on the contrary, would destroy the Indian society.

In a series of tweets posted on Friday, Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed the hope that the achievement of Kashmiris’ goal of self-determination was not far as the younger generation was taking the struggle forward with even greater resolve.

“Now, a younger generation of Kashmiris is taking the struggle forward with even greater resolve. To the Kashmiri people, my message is that your goal of self-determination is not far,” the prime minister said.

On the day, he reiterated that Pakistan stood united and resolute with the Kashmiris in their legitimate struggle for self-determination, which had been reaffirmed by the international community in numerous United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.

He said over seven decades of Indian occupation and oppression had failed to weaken the Kashmiri people’s resolve to struggle for their right to self-determination.

“Pakistan will stand with you till you achieve your legitimate rights. Pakistan has always stood for peace in our region, but the onus of creating an enabling environment lies with India,” Imran Khan added.

He said if India demonstrated sincerity in seeking a just solution to the Kashmir issue, in accordance with the UNSC resolutions, Pakistan was ready to take two steps forward for peace. “But let no one mistake our desire for stability & peace as a sign of weakness,” he said.

He said rather, it was because of Pakistan’s strength and confidence as a nation that it was prepared to go the extra mile to ensure a just peace that fulfilled the legitimate aspirations of the Kashmiri people.

This post was originally published on VOSA.