Responding to calls to pitch his name for the Nobel Peace Prize, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday said he is not worthy of the honour.
Last week, Pakistan’s Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain submitted a resolution in the country’s National Assembly Secretariat pitching Khan’s name for the coveted prize. Hussain said Khan deserves the honour because of his role in de-escalating hostilities between India and Pakistan.
Many people have signed online petitions calling for Imran Khan to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, The News reported. The hashtag #NobelPeaceForImranKhan also started trending on Twitter last week.
“I am not worthy of the Nobel Peace prize,” Khan said on Twitter. “The person worthy of this would be the one who solves the Kashmir dispute according to the wishes of the Kashmiri people and paves the way for peace & human development in the subcontinent.”
Relations between India and Pakistan have been tense since a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir on February 14. The attack was claimed by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad outfit. India has accused its neighbour of protecting terrorist groups.
India and Pakistan on February 27 claimed that they had shot down each others’ fighter jets, a day after the Indian Air Force had struck a Jaish terror camp in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was captured by the Pakistani forces in the dogfight. On March 1, the pilot returned to India, a day after Khan said he would be released as a “goodwill gesture”.
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