Chairman PTI Imran Khan Exclusive Interview on Sky News

       Chairman PTI Imran Khan Exclusive Interview on Sky News 

 

He says he as a victim of a US backed plot to remove him and Imran Khan Joins us live now from Peshawar and thank you very much for being with us and just first of all the march you're threatening now if no new elections are announced.

 What do you hope to achieve?

 Well Mark what every democrat hopes to achieve from a peaceful ah protest.  What I hope to achieve is to show the whole of the country that the people of this country want one thing, elections. They do not want foreign imposed government on where members of a party were bought by million dollars was offered to them to switch sides and then the government was removed. And so therefore we feel that rather than someone else imposing a government on our country let the people of this country decides whoever they want to lead them.

 But you were toppled you say by a western conspiracy. You called it I think US backed regime change.

 I mean it's quite a claim. What evidence do you have do you base that claim on?

Well, as a prime minister I get a cipher. Cipher is the is secret message sent by your ambassadors. They are sent to the foreign office. It's like in Wiki Leaks, you know, Wiki Leaks was when they broke the code. So, the secret messages were relate to the public. So, I get a cipher from my ambassador in the US. And he, it's an official meeting he has with this American undersecretary or whatever. Donald

Lou. And me as a prime minister, I am leading, I am reading this cipher. And it says that unless you remove your prime minister through this vote of no confidence, which hadn't been tabled as yet. There will be consequences for Pakistan. And if you remove him, all will be forgiven.

Now this, this is what me as a prime minister reading this cipher. And I am the chief executive who, was he asking to have me removed so the next day after this meeting, official meeting with no takers, with minutes between our ambassador in the Washington and this  American official Donald Liu.

Next day, the no confidence motion is tabled in our national assembly. And then members of our party which I told you were offered were offered these huge sums to switch sides. They start leaving the party. Our allies leaving the party. And just to remind mind you that at this time in the last two years Pakistan's growth rate was 5. six% last year. This time was 6%. It is one of the highest growth rates in in in Pakistan's history. Our industry was booming.

Exports record, remittances record, tax collection record, we cope with the coronavirus. We are considered one of the five top countries.

Which save the people and our economy and our poor people from the virus. There was no reason for the government suddenly to be removed because since we have been removed by the way the economy is gone in a tailspin.

So let me just ask you about that because the US completely deny this and you say that the US wanted you out because of your foreign policy which was increasingly anti-western and clearly favoring China and Russia. Do you regret the tie with Russia specifically given what's happened in Ukraine.

Mark, in that cipher, Donald Ruiz asking our ambassador that did it that that, the Prime Minister Imran Khan was solely responsible for his decision to tour Russia. Now the ambassador kept trying to explain to him that this was tour which was planned long way back, long way before Ukraine.

Secondly, all stakeholders, the foreign office, the military establishment, we were all on one page because the military wanted hardware. We wanted to buy gas from because we got depleting gas reserves. We wanted to and this was six years ago this contract was being negotiated. Imran from Russia. So, the problem. let me just get coming.

The problem is that on the very day that Putin invaded Ukraine, you shook hands with him in the Kremlin. That suggests, if, you know, at least that you endorse what he's doing in Ukraine.

Mark, how the hell was I supposed to know that there, I landed in Moscow, He was going to, Putin was going to, going to Ukraine. But the meeting. Even then from

Moscow.

Mark. My statement as Moscow was, I have never believed in military solutions.

So, never did I endorse that.

Ours was a totally a bilateral meeting and the it was planned long before. So, point

I am trying to make is that we didn't realize that when I would reach there, that the Putin would go into Ukraine.

How was I supposed to know?

And how could you be punished for that?

But do you accept? This is the better. How could you have a do you accept that what Russia is doing is an illegal act of aggression?

 Do you condemn what Russia is doing?

Mark, I am against all military operations. I was against Iraq war; I was against US going into Afghanistan consistently.

I am against military solutions in Ukraine to solve problems.

But point I am trying to make is that to hold me responsible and in this cipher, it was only me being held responsible.

While our ambassador was telling us that this was a long before the store was planned.

The purpose of going there were bilateral things. We had nothing to do with. But the problem is that the ties you have with Russia and China suggests that you went ahead with that meeting that human rights are secondary to trade for you.

Russia is waging a war on its neighbor killing civilians.

China has a terrible record on human rights repressing the and other minorities.

Mark, I was elected by 220 million people of Pakistan to serve them. My number one priority is there are 50 million Pakistanis below the poverty line. I was not elected for them to correct all the wrongs that are going on in the world. My responsibility was my country.

And so all my relationships, whether it was with China, with the United States, with Russia, were for the benefit of our own people.

Listen, in Kashmir which is dispute between Pakistan and India. India has violated all United Nations resolutions on Kashmir. They have illegally taken away the right of the Kashmiri people and basically got rid of the statehood.

Now, did anyone speak against it?

The atrocities going on in Kashmir.

Thousand people in Kashmir's have died. Has anyone condemned India for that? No, because the India is an ally.

Allow us to be neutral too so that we can look after our own people.

 

What about Afghanistan? Are you, are you pleased to see the Taliban back in control in Afghanistan.

Were you pleased to see the west defeated?

 

Mark Afghanistan was there never going to be a military solution. Anyone who knows the history of Afghanistan and the British above all has experienced three wars in Afghanistan. The three times they have gone into Afghanistan in the 19th century. Twice in nineteen and once in the 20^th century. There was never going to be a military solution.

People like us who kept saying that this is not you will not solve Afghanistan problem by bombing them or sending a military we were called pro-Taliban. People like us were always talking about how would there be people in Afghanistan.

For 40 years they have been suffering. But you said that at the end you said it's not whether you are in one Mark this is not a football match whether you are on one side or the other.

It's and where Afghanistan when there are problems there. The country that suffers most is Pakistan. Because we already have three and a half billion refugees there. But you said that the chains of slavery had been broken in the country.

What when the Americans left and the British what did you mean by that? That was deliberate.

It was deliberately distorted. I was speaking in Urdu. I was talking about getting rid of mental slavery. We still have the colonial education system with elite is taught in English medium. We had first time and history had one syllabus for everyone and I said that mental slavery is far worse than physical slavery.

 In that contest, I refer to Afghanistan where physical you know they were fighting for their freedom.

But what about the slavery of women?

 Are they are you concerned that they seem to be going back on their commitment to allow girls back to school and they're now insisting women cover their faces. Are you worried at all about what is happening there?

Mark, I am not responsible or a spokesman for the Taliban. If there was any other solution, after 20 years of war, well, there should have been. You should have found some solution.

The fact is that Pakistan has supported the Taliban. Who says this?

Harboring Taliban fighters inside Pakistan.

Gerald something Mark. There is so much propaganda and ignorance about this whole Pakistan, Afghanistan situation. Pakistan lost 80,000 people.

No country will supported the US in the war on terror gives as many sacrifices as we did. The only reason we lost 80, 000 people was because we joined the US war on terror.

Because the US was trying to find a military solution and

Afghanistan who were non-existent.

We were blamed. A country that gives sacrifices.

We were blamed for the lack of success in Afghanistan.

What is happening in Afghanistan has nothing to do with us. The fact is that a war in Afghanistan meant 5 million refugees at the beginning in the eighties. We had three and a half billion refugees. We had what were the Pakistan, Taliban, who were fighting against our state. We still have terrorism as a result of participating in the US war.

For Pakistan to be blamed that three and a half million refugees.

Mark, how do you stop? How do we know who would go across and be with the Taliban. How so Pakistan fenced first time we fenced our border. There was open border before. So now three and a half years we have fenced the border. But please do not blame Pakistan.

Pakistan is the collateral damage of Afghanistan. Just finally on the elections you want.

Do you think that people power you're talking about 2 million people?

Do you honestly think that people power can take you back to power?

I am not going to I don't I am not showing the two million people coming out in Islamabad so I would get back into power.

All we are saying is that these two problems. One is that this is an imposed government through a regime change by Washington.

Number two, they are criminals. 60% of the cabinet is on bail. The prime minister and the chief minister were about to be sentenced when they were met the chief minister and prime minister. It's an insult to this country. All we are doing peaceful protest.

We feel let the people of Pakistan decide who they want to elect.

Let's not have an imposed government from outside.   

Well as I say the Americans deny that.

But listen, Imran Khan, thank you very much for being with us this evening.