No Change In Pakistan's Nuclear Policy, Says Foreign Office On Imran Khan's Statement

Pakistan Foreign Office on Tuesday said there is no change in Pakistan’s nuclear policy. This came after Prime Minister Imran Khan vowed that his country will never ever start a war with India, amid escalating tensions between the nations. Foreign Office said Khan’s comments were being taken out of context and did not represent a change in Islamabad’s nuclear policy.

“Prime Minister’s comments on Pakistan’s approach towards conflict between two nuclear armed states are being taken out of context,” Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said in a late-night tweet on Monday.

“While conflict should not take place between two nuclear states, there’s no change in Pakistan’s nuclear policy,” he said.

Earlier, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had said his county will not use nuclear weapons first, according to news agency Reuters. “We both are nuclear-armed countries. If these tensions increase, the world could be in danger,” Khan said addressing members of the Sikh religious community in eastern city of Lahore. “There will be no first from our side ever,” Reuters quoted Khan as saying.

Khan said war is not a solution to any problem. "I want to tell India that war is not a solution to any problem. The winner in war is also a loser. War gives birth to host of other issues," he said.

Recalling his previous telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Khan said, "I told him that there are similar circumstances both in Pakistan and India. I told him about the climate change. We are sitting on a ticking bomb. If we do not address this issue (climate change) there will be scarcity of water (in both countries). I told him that we together can solve the Kashmir dispute through dialogue."

Expressing his frustration over "no response" from India for his efforts to talk to Pakistan, Khan said: "Whatever effort I made India was acting like a super power asking us to do this and not to do that (for talks). It was giving us dictation."

HIGHLIGHTS

• Pakistan Foreign Office on Tuesday said there is no change in Pakistan’s nuclear policy.
• Foreign Office said Khan’s comments were being taken out of context.
• Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had said his county will not use nuclear weapons first.