ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan today said the “selective silence” of the West on human rights violations in Indian-occupied Kashmir was “deafening” as he called it as their “double standards” in opposing China’s alleged maltreatment of Muslims in in Xinjiang.
PM said, “What we find very difficult to swallow in Pakistan is that while they talk about Uighurs, they do not talk much in the West about Indian Occupied Kashmir because the worst violations of human rights are being reported there by Indian forces.”
Prime Minister Khan expressed these views while talking to Chinese journalists in Islamabad today ahead of his 3-day visit to China. PM Khan is leaving for China on Feb 3, 2022, to attend Olympics and to meet the Chinese leadership.
He said, “Somehow there is selective silence about human rights in IoK where around nine million people are basically living in the worst conditions — [it’s] almost an open prison — being controlled by force by 800,000 Indian troops. On one side they (western countries) talk about Xinjiang, but on the other, there is a silence on serious human rights violations in IoK.”
Pakistani premier said that while there was a lot of criticism from the West about the treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang, Pakistan’s ambassador to China had visited the region and reported that “this is not true on the ground.”
PM Khan was keen to attend the Beijing Olympics, saying it would be his first time experience and said it was very “admirable” for China to go forward with the mega event at a time when the pandemic had adversely affected many sporting events globally.
He hailed the “deep relationship” between Pakistan and China, saying it had only strengthened over time.
PM Khan said, “There is a feeling in Pakistan that China always stood with us in times of need and supported us during difficult times. Similarly, Pakistan also always stood with China.”
He added that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project had further linked the countries and also entered phase two of its operations, which focus on industrial development. He said Pakistan was looking forward to collaborating with China on many more fronts such as sports, information technology, agriculture, poverty alleviation, development and city planning and management.
