Peace with Pakistan will give India direct access to Central Asia: PM Khan

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday said India will be benefitted economically by having peace with his country as it will enable New Delhi to directly access the resource-rich Central Asia region through Pakistani territory. Delivering the inaugural address at the launch of the two-day Islamabad Security Dialogue, Khan also said that his government after coming to power in 2018 did everything for better ties with India and it was for India to reciprocate. "India will have to take the first step. Unless they do so, we cannot do much," he said.

India last month said that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan in an environment free of terror, hostility and violence. India has said the onus is on Pakistan to create an environment free of terror and hostility. India has also told Pakistan that "talks and terror" cannot go together and has asked Islamabad to take demonstrable steps against terror groups responsible for launching various attacks on India. Khan discussed Pakistan's vision of comprehensive national security, built on the pillars of traditional and non-traditional security, including his vision for economic prosperity and human welfare.

Khan dwelt at length on the issue of peace in the region, including peace between Pakistan and India, saying "the unresolved Kashmir issue was the biggest hurdle between the two countries." "If India gives the Kashmiris their right under the UN (resolutions), it will be greatly beneficial for Pakistan as well as for India," he said and added, "India can access Central Asia after peace." Khan said that having a direct route to the Central Asian region will economically benefit India. Central Asia is rich in oil and gas. Central Asia, in the modern context, generally includes five resource-rich countries -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Talking about non-traditional threats to Pakistan, Khan said that climate change, food security and a weak economy were among the biggest challenges in the quest to realise the full concept of security. He acknowledged that improving the national economy was the biggest challenge but his government was trying to reduce trade deficit and control inflation so that the financial condition of common people could improve. "We cannot become a secure nation when a small rich minority is surrounded by the sea of poor people…National security is achieved when a nation stands up to secure itself," he said at the dialogue organised by the National Security Division and think-tanks comprising the Advisory Board of National Security Committee.

Khan also praised all-weather ally China for its "successful" handling of poverty and lifting more than 700 million people out of poverty in the last three decades. "It is their big achievement whether you like China or not," he said. Khan said that Pakistan's 25 per cent population was suffering from extreme poverty and another 25 per cent was just slightly better.