Nuclear shadow hovering over South Asia, PM Imran opines in NYT

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday said that a nuclear shadow was hovering over South Asia, urging the Indian government to move out of a zero-sum mindset so dialogue on Kashmir could begin. 

In an opinion piece published by The New York Times on Friday, Khan called on the world to wake up to the threat of a 'New India' governed by leaders who are a product of a Hindu supremacist mother ship. 

The premier also lamented that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi appeared to have mistaken the overtures of peace made by Pakistan in the past few months for appeasement. 

Highlighting the Indian atrocities in Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK), Khan warned that there was a fear of an impending bloodbath in the occupied valley. 

Earlier in August, India had revoked the constitutional autonomy of IoK and imposed a military curfew in the area. Thousands of Kashmiris have been detained by Indian security forces since. 

Signalling a shift in policy from Pakistan, PM Khan said in his opinion piece that Pakistan would now only agree to dialogue if India reversed the illegal annexation of Kashmir. 

"Modi has imprisoned the population of Kashmir in their homes and cut off their phone, internet and television connections, rendering them without news of the world or their loved ones," wrote PM Khan. 

"If the world does nothing to stop the Indian assault on Kashmir and its people, there will be consequences for the whole world as two nuclear-armed states get ever closer to a direct military confrontation," he added.

PM Khan also highlighted the close connection between the incumbent Indian leadership and the racist ideology of an extremist right-wing Hindu group called Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). 

"The Indian prime minister and several ministers of his government continue to be members of the RSS, whose founding fathers expressed their admiration for Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler," noted Khan. 

The premier warned that nuclear shadows were hovering over South Asia, and accused the Indian leadership of fanning the flames of war by issuing nuclear threats to Pakistan. 

"With the nuclear shadow hovering over South Asia, we realize that Pakistan and India have to move out of a zero-sum mindset to begin dialogue on Kashmir, various strategic matters and trade," opined Khan. 

He added that dialogue with India must include all stakeholders, especially the Kashmiris, noting that Pakistan had already proposed options that can be worked on while honouring the right to self-determination of the Kashmiris.