Pakistan ready to improve ties with India, says Imran Khan

Pakistan is ready to improve its ties with India, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan said today, asserting that the blame game between the two neighbours, detrimental to the sub-continent, should stop.

"If they take one step towards us, we will take two, but at least (we) need a start," 65-year-old Khan said today in his first public address after leading his party to victory in the general elections held yesterday.

His party emerged as the single largest party in the National Assembly elections, amid rival political parties' claim of "blatant" rigging in the counting.

Khan said Kashmir is the "core" issue between the two countries and it should be resolved through talks.

"I am a person who arguably knows the most people in India because of my days in cricket. We can resolve the poverty crisis in South East Asia. The biggest problem is Kashmir," he said, suggesting that the two sides should come to the table to resolve it.

"We want to improve our relations with India, if their leadership also wants it. This blame game that whatever goes wrong in Pakistan's Balochistan is because of India and vice versa brings us back to square one," he said.

"This is not how we will grow, and it is detrimental to the sub-continent," he added.

He said good India-Pakistan relations will be beneficial for the entire region and suggested to increase trade ties between the two neighbours.

The India-Pakistan ties nose-dived in recent years with no bilateral talks taking place.

The ties between the two countries had strained after the terror attacks by Pakistan-based groups in 2016 and India's surgical strikes inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The sentencing of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav to death by a military court in April last year further deteriorated bilateral ties