Imran Khan said that Pakistan has been inundated with so many problems ever since he came to power. (Photo: PTI)

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that he has been so busy with the Kashmir issue and Pakistan's internal problems that he "frankly do not know much about" the reported treatment of Uyghur Muslims in China.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, as a part of Pakistan's global outreach initiative on Kashmir since the abrogation of provisions of Article 370 by India, Imran Khan said that Pakistan has been inundated with so many problems that his first priority is the people of Pakistan.

On being asked if he has discussed the issue of Uyghur Muslims with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Imran Khan said that he has not since he has been dealing with Pakistan's economy and Kashmir.

"No, I have not. We have been facing so many of our internal problems right now that I do not know much about this problem. Let's face it, ever since we came to power, apart from the economy and apart from dealing with the situation in Kashmir, we have been inundated with problems," Imran Khan said.

But, he said, "I will say one thing about China. For Pakistan, China has been the best friend".

When Imran Khan was asked for his stand on the treatment of Uyghur Muslims since he, too, has been criticised for not issuing any statement on this, Imran Khan said, "Right now, my responsibility is the people of Pakistan.

Therefore, my number one effort is to help my own country."

When asked about China's treatment of Uyghur Muslims, primer minister of Pakistan says, "frankly, we've been facing so many of our internal problems that I don't know much about this problem." pic.twitter.com/wLkfYZkq1Z Naila Inayat ????? ????? (@nailainayat) September 14, 2019





GLAD PEOPLE CALL ME PM OF U-TURNS: IMRAN KHAN

On being called the "prime minister of U-turns" by his critics as he has allegedly taken U-turns on many of his campaign pledges, Imran Khan said that he is glad for being called so.

"I am glad they say I'm a prime minister of U-turns. Only an idiot doesn't do any u-turns," Imran Khan told Al Jazeera, adding, "Only a moron, when he's on a course and he comes across a brick wall, only that stupid idiot keeps banging his head against a brick wall. An intelligent person immediately revises his strategy and goes around it."

When he was asked whether India and Pakistan are at risk of another major conflict on Kashmir as two nuclear countries, Imran Khan said he "absolutely believes that war is a possibility" but "Pakistan would never start a war".

The Pakistani prime minister also slammed India for "diverting the world's attention from Kashmir" by blaming Pakistan for terrorism.

He said, "Eight million Muslims in Kashmir are under siege for almost now six weeks. And why this can become a flashpoint between India and Pakistan is because what we already know India is trying to do is divert attention from their illegal annexation and their impending genocide on Kashmir. They are taking the attention away by blaming Pakistan for terrorism."

NO QUESTION OF DIALOGUE WITH INDIA NOW: IMRAN KHAN

Imran Khan also emphasised that there is "no question" of having a dialogue with the Indian government after the abrogation of provisions of Article 370 that gave Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) a special status.

He also said that Pakistan has made several attempts to open dialogue with India "to resolve differences over Kashmir and to live as civilised neighbours" but, he said, "that is no longer the case".

"We discovered that while we were trying to have dialogue, they were trying to push us in the blacklist in FATF [Financial Action Task Force]. So they were trying to bankrupt us economically, so that's when we pulled back," Imran Khan said.