India, Pak should come together like European Union, says Imran

Cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan today said even though Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will try to improve ties with India, he would not be able to go "fast" on the issue due to pressure from fanatical elements.

In an interactive session, he said the future of India and Pakistan should be like that of the European Union, with people being allowed to move freely. He expressed hope that when his party comes to power, people would be allowed to drive down from Delhi to Lahore without any barriers.

"You will find that even though our current Prime Minister will try but he would not be able to go fast towards building relations with India because of the pressure from this small fanatical group," he said.

Khan observed that the level of fanaticism in Pakistan is at its peak at the moment but "in the next six months, my optimism is that after the exit of the US from Afghanistan, this frenzy of fanaticism in Pakistan will start subsiding".

"Once that happens, then we can move towards concentrating on normalising our relations. Right now, due to the pressure of the extreme right...," he said.

The interactive session was organised by the All India Management Association.
The head of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf party said in order to bring stability to Afghanistan after the US exit from there in 2014, India and Pakistan will have to cooperate and not interfere in the functioning of the government in Kabul.

"If India and Pakistan cooperate after 2014 and decide not to interfere with the government there, it will go a long way in ensuring stability there. If we start proxy war there, I hate to think what will happen there," he said.