"Pakistan Would Never Ever Start A War With India," Says Imran Khan Amid Tension Over Jammu & Kashmir

Pakistan Prime Minister Khan also asserted that Pakistan will not be the first country to use nuclear weapon.

During Imran Khan's tenure as prime minister, the Pakistani military has retained the dominant influence over foreign and security policies of the country, according to a US Congressional report.

New Delhi: Amid tensions with India after the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday said that his country would never ever start a war with India and even not be the first to use nuclear weapons. This comes after a series of indirect nuclear war threats  issued to India by Khan and his ministers. While addressing a gathering of the Sikh community at the Governor’s House in Lahore, Khan said that both India and Pakistan are nuclear powers and if tension escalates , the world will face danger. “We will never ever start the war. Both Pakistan and India are nuclear powers and if tension escalates, the world will face danger,” he said. "...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." The Pakistan Prime Minister, recalling his previous telephonic conversation with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, said: "I told him that there are similar circumstances both in Pakistan and India. I told him about climate change. We are sitting on a ticking bomb. If we do not address this issue (climate change) there will be a scarcity of water (in both countries). "I told him that we together can solve the Kashmir dispute through dialogue." Imran Khan claimed he made efforts (for talks) alleging that India was acting like a superpower. "...India asked us to do this and not to do that. It was giving us dictation." On August 5 India scrapped Article 370 of its Constitution which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Reacting to India's move on Kashmir, Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties with New Delhi and expelled the Indian High Commissioner. India and Pakistan ties nosedived after January 2016 terror attack on the Indian Air Force base at Pathankot by Pakistan-based terrorists. Relations between the two nations further deteriorated after a Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) terror group's suicide bomber killed 40 CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14 this year. Also Watch: (with inputs from IANS)