Pakistan could lose in a conventional war with India, says Imran Khan

Islamabad, Sep 15: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has once again raked up the prospect of a war, including nuclear war, with India over New Delhi's "illegal annexation" of Kashmir.

Imran Khan, in an interview with international TV channel Al Jazeera, said that Pakistan could lose in a conventional war with India, and then "there could be consequences". He insisted that Islamabad will never start a nuclear war and he is "anti-war."

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Khan said,"But I am clear that when two nuclear armed countries fight a conventional war, there is every possibility of it ending in a nuclear war. If I say Pakistan, God forbid, and in a conventional war, and we are losing, and if a country is stuck between two choices, either you surrender or fight to the death for your freedom. I know Pakistan will fight to the death for freedom, when a nuclear armed country fights to the death, there are consequences."

On being asked if he has discussed the issue of Uyghur Muslims with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Imran Khan said that he has not since he has been dealing with Pakistan's economy and Kashmir.

"No, I have not. We have been facing so many of our internal problems right now that I do not know much about this problem. Let's face it, ever since we came to power, apart from the economy and apart from dealing with the situation in Kashmir, we have been inundated with problems," Imran Khan said.

Khan has been speaking to international media over the past several weeks to internationalise the Kashmir issue after Pakistan's efforts at the United Nations failed to yield it any dividend.

In an opinion piece in The New York Times, Khan had earlier issued the threat of a nuclear war with India over Kashmir.

On Friday, at a rally in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, he had said that the situation in Kashmir will drive more Muslims towards extremism and people "will rise against India". He also said that if the Kashmir issue is not resolved by the international community it could "impact world trade".