Indians always hoped that Pakistan will merge with India: Imran Khan

"Why did we put so much emphasis on our security? Why did we maintain an army despite severe economic woes?" Imran Khan.

Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan, who has been showering positive words about Indian foreign policy in the recent past, has now spoken about the two-nation theory that divided united India into two pieces (India and Pakistan), saying Indians always hoped that his country will merge with India.

"When Pakistan was created, what was the fear that existed among the Muslim community? The leaders in India were claiming that Pakistan could not exist on its own and will eventually merge with the country. This was India's motive from the start," Opindia quoted the former Pakistani Prime Minister as saying at a gathering.

"Why did we put so much emphasis on our security? Why did we maintain an army despite severe economic woes? And then the Pakistani army gave us confidence that it can defend us," the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader stated.

He then claimed that Pakistan was created as an independent nation where the principles of Riyasat-e-Medina would exist. "This is why the country was created in the first place - We wanted to be an independent nation where principles of Riyasat-e-Medina would exist. The most important principle of that era was rule of law. Pakistan got everything except justice and rule of law," he added.

In his speech, Imran Khan also spoke about the coverage of his country's economic crisis in the Indian media.

"They (Indian TV channels) are happily announcing that Pakistan is on the brink of economic devastation," Imran Khan stated while claiming that Pakistan founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah's dream of two-nation theory was in danger. "Hindustan ke TV pe dekhay, kis tarah mazak udd raha hai Pakistan ka (Watch the TV channels of India to learn how Pakistan is being ridiculed)," he added.

In the recent past, Imran Khan had hailed Indian foreign policy after buying oil from Russia at cheaper rate amid sanctions.

On the other hand, Pakistan is grappling with one of the country's worst economic crises in recent years amid dwindling foreign exchange reserves, high inflation and sharp depreciation of its currency. It is rolling out higher taxes to get the IMF bailout package.