Pak PM defends China’s mistreatment of Uyghurs

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Defending all-weather friend China, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said that Islamabad has spoken to China about the Uyghur issue and had been provided with an explanation, but the premier refrained from divulging any details.

During an interview with Middle East Eye on Monday, Khan said: “Our relationship with China is such that we have an understanding between us. We will talk to each other, but behind closed doors, because that is their nature and culture”, according to Dawn.

When asked about Pakistan’s silence over the treatment of Uyghurs in China, Khan said that he considered “selective pronouncements on human rights” to be immoral.

“In all our ups and downs, China has stood with us,” he said, adding that Beijing had helped Islamabad during moments of crisis when “we were going belly up”.

The US State Department estimates that up to two million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities have been detained in internment camps in China’s Xinjiang province since 2017.

Beijing maintains that the camps are vocational, aimed at combating terrorism and separatism, and repeatedly denied accusations of human rights abuses in the region. (ANI)