Pakistan Premier: ‘No Use’ for Armed Militias Anymore
Prime Minister Imran Khan speaking to reporters on Tuesday. “We will not allow armed militias to operate anymore,’’ he said.CreditSaiyna Bashir for The New York Times
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Prime Minister Imran Khan speaking to reporters on Tuesday. “We will not allow armed militias to operate anymore,’’ he said.CreditCreditSaiyna Bashir for The New York Times
By
Jeffrey Gettleman
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — His country nearly went to war with a neighboring enemy six and a half times its size. Militants lurk in religious schools and in the countryside.
And with inflation soaring and debt ballooning, his finance team is scrambling, desperate to secure a multibillion-dollar rescue package to avoid economic collapse.
But Imran Khan, Pakistan’s prime minister, is apparently feeling confident about his first eight months in office — so much so that he invited a group of foreign journalists for an informal, hourlong chat on Tuesday in Islamabad, the capital.
While he seemed subdued, with puffy circles under his eyes, Mr. Khan also sought to project resolve — particularly about ridding Pakistan of the militants it once tolerated.
crack down on militant groups that shelter in Pakistan.
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Mr. Khan observing Pakistan Air Force exercises in March.CreditAkhtar Soomro/Reuters
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Mr. Khan observing Pakistan Air Force exercises in March.CreditAkhtar Soomro/Reuters
Mr. Khan promised that this new crackdown would go far deeper than previous ones criticized as cosmetic. The government, for instance, plans to send 200,000 teachers to religious schools across the country to teach secular subjects like English and math. The intention, Mr. Khan’s aides said, was to deradicalize students.
An international watchdog group, the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force, is on the brink of blacklisting and sanctioning Pakistan. If that happened,
Pakistan would face greater difficulties in obtaining the financial bailouts and loans it has sought.
“We can’t afford to be blacklisted,’’ he said on Tuesday.
But Mr. Khan has also won praise for his seemingly coolheaded and statesmanlike behavior during the
recent crisis with India, which he helped de-escalate by releasing a captured Indian pilot and emphasizing peace. He seemed quite cognizant that the last thing Pakistan needed was a war.
On Feb. 26, around 3:30 a.m., Mr. Khan said he was awakened by a phone call. A top military official told him that
Indian warplanes had just crossed the border and conducted airstrikes on Pakistani soil.
Pakistan and India have been bitter enemies since 1947 when Britain decolonized the Indian subcontinent and created two nations: the mostly Hindu India, and the mostly Muslim Pakistan. The two have warred several times.
This time, the spark was a suicide bombing in the disputed territory of Kashmir that killed dozens of Indian soldiers. India blamed Pakistan for supporting the militant group behind the attack and vowed revenge.
After learning that the Indian bombs had fallen into an empty ravine around Balakot (India said the bombs had struck a terrorist training camp), Mr. Khan said Pakistan opted for a measured response and bombed an empty area just across the Indian border.
a large bailout from the International Monetary Fund, but those often come with painful austerity conditions. His finance team has been reluctant to turn to the I.M.F. but now promises that a deal will be announced in the coming weeks.
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