Islamabad: Imran Khan, former Cricketer and Founder Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), in his first address after leading his party to victory said Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and Medina Munawwerah - the City he founded, are his inspirations and he would work to develop a welfare state on the same lines.
"My inspiration is the Prophet Muhammad, the city of Medina that he founded, how it was based on humanity. For the first time, the state was formed based on humanitarianism", Imran Khan who is set to become Pakistan's Prime Minister said on Thursday.
"That is my inspiration, that Pakistan should have that kind of humanitarian state, where we take responsibility for our weaker classes", he added.
"The weak are dying of hunger. I will try my best - all of my policies will be made to raise our weaker classes, for our labourers, for our poor farmers, who work all year and get no money, 45 percent of children have stunted growth, they don't reach the right height, or their brains don't develop", he vowed.
"There are countries with less than 25 million people, and we have that many children out of school. My effort will be that we try our best to raise these people up, that all of our policies be focused on human development. I want the whole country to think like this", he said.
"No country can prosper when there is a small island of rich people, and a sea of poor", he added.
In his address, Imran Khan also said that Pakistan's relation with India is a key part of his agenda.
"I really want to fix our ties, you take one step we will take two," he said in a presidential-style address from Islamabad this evening even as counting of votes in yesterday's elections are still underway, but trends show that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party Imran Khan had founded in 1996, is set to emerged as the single largest party.
He said he was a "little disappointed" the way Indian media has portrayed him "like a Bollywood villain as though all will be bad if I come to power".
"I have widely travelled in India because of cricket and I want good relations with India," Imran Khan, who was the captain of Pakistan Cricket Team in 1992 when it had won the World Cup.
Raising the Kashmir issue in his very first speech after the eletcions, Imran Khan said the two countries also need to have a dialogue on Kashmir.
"The unfortunate truth is that Kashmir is a core issue, and the situation in Kashmir, and what the people of Kashmir have seen in the last 30 years they have really suffered. Pakistan and India's leadership should sit at a table and try to fix this problem. It's not going anywhere", he said.
"We are at square one right now [with India]. If India's leadership is ready, we are ready to improve ties with India. If you step forweard one step, we will take two steps forward. I say this with conviction, this will be the most important thing for the subcontient, for both countries to have friendship", he added.
Elaborating further on his priorities, Imran Khan said he wants to have a good relationship with Saudi Arabia, the United States and also with Afghanistan and Iran.
"Then there is Afghanistan, a country that has suffered the most in the war on terror. Afghanistan's people need peace. We want peace there. If there is peace in Afghanistan, there will be peace in Pakistan. We will make every effort to achieve peace there", he said.
"We want to have open borders with Afghanistan one day", he added.
"With the US, we want to have a mutually beneficial relationship ... up until now, that has been one way, the US thinks it gives us aid to fight their war ... we want both countries to benefit, we want a balanced relationship", he said.
"We want to improve ties with Iran. Saudi Arabia is a friend who has always stood by us in difficult times. Our aim will be that whatever we can do for conciliation in the Middle East, we want to play that role. Those tensions, that fight, between neighbours, we will try to bring them together", he said.
Amid the euphoria that 'Pakistan is set for a new beginning under his leadership' Imran Khan vowed to lead a clean and transparent government in the country.
"I pledge to my Pakistani nation that I will prove that we can fix our governance system in this country, we can also bring a governance system that can make the people's lives easier", he said.
"I pledge this to you today, it will be my foremost aim to remain as simple as possible ... in this poor country, these huge symbols, these mansions and protocols, on public's money, I pledge that there will be a different kind of governance in Pakistan", he added.
"I am saying to you today, that for the first time, Pakistan's policies won't be for the few rich people, it will be for the poor, for our women, for our muinorities, whose rights are not respected. My whole aim will be to protect our lower classes and to bring them up", he said.
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