Imran Khan on failed peace with India, Pakistan’s plight, and his own fate
Politics & Diplomacy
•
20-Jun-2023
Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan sat down with Wajahat S. Kahn, a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Pakistan Initiative, for an interview on June 18, 2023.
In the Atlantic Council interview, Khan, who was ousted from power in April 2022, revealed new details about why efforts to achieve a historic peace with India collapsed and spoke to the worries he heard his army chief express about the state of Pakistani military readiness relative to India. He claimed that the former army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa told him “frequently” that the army was not equipped or prepared for a war with India.
He also lamented the steep decline of Pakistan’s economy and democracy and explained why he’s preparing himself for the possibility of being jailed or even assassinated.
For more background and analysis of the interview with Imran Khan, please visit: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/imran-khan-on-the-failed-india-pakistan-thaw-and-why-hes-prepared-for-everything-even-death/
For the full transcript of the conversation, visit: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/news/transcripts/read-imran-khans-full-atlantic-council-interview-on-failed-peace-with-india-pakistans-plight-and-his-own-fate/
Note: this interview has been posted in its entirety. When asked for comment on allegations made against him, which have been repeated multiple times by Imran Khan, Husain Haqqani told the Atlantic Council: “Like all conspiracy theorists and demagogues, Imran Khan does not feel the need to offer any evidence of allegations he makes.” Haqqani’s attorney has also issued a cease-and-desist letter to Khan for making “false and defamatory statements” about Haqqani.
Up Next in Politics & Diplomacy
-
Gabriel Escobar and Miroslav Lajcak o...
A CONVERSATION WITH GABRIEL ESCOBAR AND MIROSLAV LAJCAK - Recent progress in normalizing relations between Serbia and Kosovo through the EU-facilitated Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue is threatened by escalating tensions in the north of Kosovo. On June 14, Serbian forces detained three Kosovo police o...
-
Central and Eastern European Energy S...
8TH ANNUAL CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN ENERGY SECURITY CONFERENCE
Please join the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center for the 8th annual Central and Eastern European Energy Security Conference.
In this second year of Russia’s brutal assault on Ukraine, the conference holds particular signifi...
-
NATO membership and security guarante...
NATO MEMBERSHIP AND SECURITY GUARANTEES: GETTING UKRAINE RIGHT AT THE VILNIUS SUMMIT - Brave Ukrainians have confronted unrelenting assaults on their homeland since the Russian Federation’s unprovoked, full-scale invasion in February 2022. Although support from the North Atlantic Alliance and its...
