Alwaght- Pakistani opposition leader has criticized Saudi-led push to isolate Iran saying the move is not in the interest of the Muslim world.
“Isolating Iran is not in the interest of the Muslim world or of Pakistan,” Imran Khan the Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said while talking to media in Islamabad on Monday. He added that, “we do not agree with isolation of Iran on the basis of a leader democratically elected by the people of Iran.”
His remarks came in apparent reference to the US President Donald Trump’s speech in the so-called US-Arab-Islamic Summit held in the Saudi capital, Riyadh on Sunday, in which he lashed out at Iran. Saudi Arabia’s King Salman also joined Trump in launching scathing attacks on Iran.
Regarding the Saudi-lead alliance of Muslim countries, he said that Iran should have been part of this alliance, as the role of Pakistan should have been to bridge the differences between the Muslim countries, not to widen them.
Imran Khan said that all the parties in the Parliament passed a unanimous resolution that Pakistan should remain a neutral entity in the Muslim world.
“We don’t want the Muslim world divided with more trouble; from Somalia to Afghanistan the Muslim world is burning. Pakistan wants to be one putting out the fires, not supporting other people’s wars,” he said.
“Isolating Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah is not in the interest of the Muslim world or of Pakistan. Nawaz Sharif lost a big opportunity and the Pakistani people are extremely disappointed. If he didn't take a stand on what the Pakistani nation wants, then why he even bothered going there,” he asked. “The government must have told Saudi Arabia that we will not become part of one side, rather we will be mediators. We should play the role of bringing the Muslim nations together instead of becoming a party on the issue of Iran,” he emphasized.
The Pakistani opposition leader regretted that his country did not even get a mention as a frontline state fighting the war on terror in the Riyadh Summit. He said that meanwhile, India was mentioned in the summit while there was no voice raised by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the atrocities in Kashmir.
Pakistani media outlets have said the country was humiliated at the Riyadh summit since Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was not allowed to speak at the event, even as leaders of some small countries put forward their views on terrorism.
