Imran Khan Calls BJP ‘Anti-Muslim’ And ‘Anti-Pakistan’, Says It Rebuffed Overtures Because Of Elections

New Delhi: Taking a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its leaders, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the “ruling party [in India] is anti-Muslim.”

In an interview with the Washington Post, the Pakistani premier said: “The ruling party [in India] has an anti-Muslim, anti-Pakistan approach.” Khan was answering a question about why his gestures towards India were spurned ever since he came to power four months ago.

Khan was quoted by the Washington Post as saying that the main reason for such a reaction from his Indian counterparts was because of the general elections that are due in the country in coming months. “India has elections coming up. They rebuffed all my overtures,” Khan said.

This is not the first time Khan has taken a dig at the ruling BJP. Earlier this year in September, a day after India called off foreign minister-level talks with Pakistan on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, Khan took to Twitter to express his “disappointment”.

Calling the India’s decision “arrogant”, Imran took an indirect dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He had tweeted: “Disappointed at the arrogant & negative response by India to my call for resumption of the peace dialogue. However, all my life I have come across small men occupying big offices who do not have the vision to see the larger picture.”

In the same interview with the Washington Post, Khan also stated that he “wants something done about the bombers of Mumbai” and that the 26/11 was “an act of terrorism.”

Khan also said he is hoping that India will respond “positively” to Pakistan’s “goodwill gesture” of opening the Kartarpur border for the Sikh pilgrims.

“I have opened a visa-free peace corridor with India called Kartarpur [so that Indian Sikhs can visit a holy shrine in Pakistan]. Let’s hope that after the election is over, we can again resume talks with India,” Khan said. (News18)