Imran Khan urges Narendra Modi for talks, says India and Pakistan cannot afford 'miscalculation'

Prime Minister Imran Khan called for dialogue to resolve issues between India and Pakistan, hours after one Pakistani F-16 fighter jet crossed the Line of Control and was engaged by Indian Air Force MiG jets. Defending the Pakistani F-16 jets entry into Indian air space, Imran said, “It was our plan to not cause any collateral damage, and not to cause any casualties. We simply wanted to show capability. Two Indian MiGs crossed Pakistan’s borders, and we shot them down. I want to now address India and say let sanity prevail.” [caption id=“attachment_6115071” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File picture of Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan. PTI[/caption] “I urge Narendra Modi to sit across the table and talk to us,” Imran said in the televised address. “All wars in world history have been miscalculated, those who started the wars did not know where it will end. So, I want to ask India, with the weapons you and we have, can we afford miscalculation?” he added. Speaking about the Pulwama attack, the Pakistan prime minister said, “We understand you are pained by the Pulwama tragedy. We do not support Pakistan’s soil be used for terrorism but we were bound to retaliate and take action,” Imran said. The Pakistan prime minister also said that Pakistan had to bear the brunt of terrorism as well and has seen over 70,000 casualties in the last decade. “I have been too many hospitals where I have seen bomb blast survivors. I have seen people missing their limbs and eyes. On one side there are people who are gone and their families, and then there those who have been are injured and their families. I know the pain they (survivors and families of the dead) have to go through,” he added, Addressing the nation, the Pakistan prime minister also said that Pakistan was ready to cooperate with India on Pulwama attack. “We said that if there is any Pakistani involved then Pakistan is ready to cooperate with you. Because it’s not in Pakistan’s interest if Pakistani soil is used for terrorism anywhere in the world and that anyone from outside use Pakistan’s soil for the same.” “But we were bound to retaliate and take action,” he said, defending Pakistani jets entering Indian air space on Wednesday. Imran also defended his previous statement warning India against any aggression. “I knew that India will take some action. And that’s why I had said that Pakistan would be forced to respond if India carried out aggression. No sovereign nation will allow another country to carry out any operation inside their soil. You can’t be the judge, jury and executioner,” he said, “I also knew that the parliamentary elections in India are around the corner, and that’s why I had said that Pakistan would be forced to respond.” Explaining why Pakistan waited for a day before responding to Tuesday’s air strike at Balakot in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Imran said, “Yesterday, we had a meeting with the chiefs of armed forces. We didn’t have information about the damage, and so we waited.”