Peace Talks: Is A ‘Desperate’ Imran Khan Hoping For A ‘Malleable, Pro-Pakistan’ Indian Regime Post-2019?

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, after being rebuffed by the Modi government on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, on Tuesday (23 October) vowed to hold peace talks with India after the upcoming 2019 Indian general elections, The New Indian Express has reported.

Khan was speaking at an investment conference, Future Investment Initiative, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he was seeking potential investors to invest in Pakistan, which is suffering a balance of payments crisis.

Khan said that his priority, after winning the elections, was to offer a “hand of peace” to India, but New Delhi refused the offer.

India had earlier in September cancelled the meet between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi on the sidelines of the United Nations summit due to the brutal killing of Indian security personnel by Pakistan-based entities.

"When I won the elections and came to power, the first thing I tried to do was extend a hand of peace to India," Khan said at the event, adding that India rebuffed the offer.

Khan signalled at resuming the talks once the Indian general elections were over in May-June of next year.

"Now what we are hoping is that we wait until the elections then again we will resume our peace talks with India," he added.

However, it is unclear on what basis Khan is hoping that India will talk to Pakistan after the 2019 general elections. Khan had, earlier in September, after the cancellation of the meeting of Foreign Ministers of both the countries, took a direct dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling him a “visionless small man occupying big office”.

Khan had also attacked the Indian security forces on Monday (22 October) when he tweeted about the alleged Indian atrocities in Kashmir.