Pakistan, First Published Apr 3, 2022, 8:47 AM IST
Delhi: Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Bajwa calls for talks with India. Bajwa said he was ready to discuss issues including Kashmir.
The army chief’s statement comes as the future of Pakistan’s Imran Khan government is being decided. Today’s vote on the no confidence motion brought by the opposition. The main agenda of the National Assembly meeting to be convened at 11.30 am is the discussion and vote on the no-confidence motion. The future of the Imran government is in the balance as two factions in the government split. If nothing dramatic had happened, Imran’s minority government would have collapsed today. Imran reiterated that there was a foreign conspiracy to overthrow his government and called on the people of Pakistan to protest. The protest was called in a TV address yesterday evening. Security has been beefed up in the capital Islamabad and other major cities. Punjab Chief Ministerial elections will be held today.
Meanwhile, the situation in Pakistan is getting complicated. Imran Khan has hinted that he will not relinquish power even if he loses the confidence vote. Today, Imran Khan has called on the masses to protest in the streets.
The call is to protest the foreign conspiracy to overthrow the regime. Those who sew shirts to come to power will retaliate. Imran Khan says Shahbaz Sharif is not going to be prime minister. The parliament building is under heavy security. An additional 10,000 security forces have been deployed.
‘Life is in danger, fear not’; Imran Khan
Imran Khan says his life is in danger. Imran Khan said he had received information from a reliable source that his life was in danger but he was not afraid. Imran Khan added that the struggle for an independent and democratic Pakistan will continue.
The army has given him three chances. Either a no-confidence vote, an early election or the resignation of the Prime Minister. Not only was his life in danger, he said, but his character would be assassinated by the opposition playing into foreign hands.
“Let my country know that my life is in danger. They have planned my assassination, not just mine, but my wife’s,” said Imran Khan, 69. Asked what options the opposition had given him, Khan said he did not want to talk to people like opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif.
“If we (the no-confidence vote) survive, early elections are the best option and I urge my country to give me a simple majority,” he said.
Describing the opposition’s no-confidence motion as a conspiracy, Khan said he had been aware of it since August last year and had received reports that some opposition leaders were visiting embassies. Khan said people like Hussein Haqqani had met Nawaz Sharif in London.
In a televised address on March 31, Khan reiterated that a foreign country was not only opposed to his term as prime minister, but also demanded that he be ousted by a no-confidence vote. According to ARY News, Khan said that his foreign policy was opposed by a foreign country.
It not only demanded a change of government, but also made it clear that the Prime Minister should be removed from office. Earlier, Pakistan’s Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry had said that the country’s security agencies had reported a plot to assassinate Imran Khan ahead of Sunday’s no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister. Following these reports, the Dawn newspaper quoted Chaudhry as saying that Imran Khan’s security had been beefed up following a government decision.
Last Updated Apr 3, 2022, 8:47 AM IST
