Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in an interview to the New York Times said that he knows India better than all other Pakistanis.
He also mentioned how much he enjoyed ‘love and respect’ from the country because of the two nations’ shared love for cricket.
“You know, probably out of all the Pakistanis, I know India better than all of them. I have had love and respect from India [more] than anyone because cricket is a big sport. It’s almost a religion in both the countries,” Imran Khan, a former cricketer added.
Expressing disappointment on being unable to normalise trade ties with India despite reaching out after assuming office, he said that a ‘civilised trading relationship’ would be beneficial for both countries.
“So when I assumed office, the first thing I did was I made this approach to Prime Minister Modi and said that, ‘Look, my main objective for coming to power is to alleviate poverty in Pakistan.’ And the best way would be if India and Pakistan had a normal, civilised trading relationship. It would benefit both the countries,” Pak PM said.
Mr Khan also spoke about the kind of foreign relation he envisions with the US after the troops withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“Now, after the US leaves Afghanistan, basically Pakistan would want a civilised relationship, which you have between nations, and we would like to improve our trading relationship with the US,” he said.
Imran Khan said that the signing of the deal between US and Afghanistan diminished Pakistan’s leverage over the Taliban.
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