Pakistan's National Assembly Secretariat submitted a motion on Saturday calling for Prime Minister Imran Khan to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in "de-escalating" tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry submitted the motion which stated that the Indian leadership's "war hysteria" and "aggression" caused tensions between the two nuclear-armed countries and brought them on the brink of war. The motion read that "Imran Khan expertly diverted the situation towards peace" and therefore he should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. On Friday, #NobelPeacePrizeForImranKhan was the top trend on Twitter.
Khan however, tweeted today that he is not worthy of the Peace Prize and that the person worthy is the one who helps solve the Kashmir issue.
I am not worthy of the Nobel Peace prize. 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.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) March 4, 2019
On 14th February , a suicide attack claimed by terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed that killed 40 CRPF troopers in Kashmir's Pulwama escalated tensions between India and Pakistan.
India, in retaliation, bombed the JeM's biggest training camp in Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and claimed to have killed a large number of terrorists. Pakistan reacted by capturing Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Abhinandan Varthaman after his MiG-21 fighter jet was shot down during a dogfight near the Line of Control (LoC) on Febuary 27. He was released by Islamabad on Friday night as a "peace gesture".
In the meantime, Imran Khan has also made it clear in a couple of televised addresses that he is open to talks with India to defuse the tension and help maintain peace between the nations. "His (Khan's) contributions deserve the international recognition with the Nobel, his aims of ensuring lasting peace in the region and discouraging revival of militarism should be recognized and greatly appreciated," read the online petition on website Change.org.
An online petition was filed moving the Norwegian Nobel Committee for the nomination of Khan for the Nobel Peace Prize for 2020 for "his peace efforts and dialogues in the Asian region on diverse conflicts (Pakistan-India, Afghanistan-US, Middle East).
