LoC violations has pushed back peace process: Imran Khan

From Barun Jha Davos, Jan 25 (PTI) Asserting that recent ceasefire violations at the Line of Control have "pushed back" the peace process, Pakistan's cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan today said armies are not equipped to find solutions to bilateral problems. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief also stressed on the need for dialogue and underlined that Pakistan and India should sort out the issues on their own. Terming the LoC violations as "very unfortunate", Khan said, "We were moving forward on peace process and it (LoC incidents) has pushed us back. Not as back as the Mumbai 26/11 time but still it is quite back". He added that media should have been less jingoistic and acted in a more responsible manner. "It is not in the interest of people of India and Pakistan to have animosity...eventually the solution lies on the dialogue table and peaceful dialogue (is needed) for sorting out the differences," Khan told PTI in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum here. Asked if Indian and Pakistani armies should have a greater contact at the top level, he said, "What we need is strong leaderships. Armies are not going to settle the issues. Army men are not equipped to find political solutions, only politicians are. "Politicians with big public mandate would eventually find the solutions for issues between two countries". Replying to a query on US's role in the sub-continent, he said Pakistan has been used as a "tissue paper" by Washington. "I think Pakistan and India should sort out the issues on their own. At the most, US could be a facilitator and nothing more than that". MORE PTI BJ SAP PYK AKJ SAP