Prime Minister Imran Khan has called the two-decade long US intervention in Afghanistan an 'insanity' during an interview with Doha-headquartered broadcaster Al Jazeera that aired on Saturday.

"No Afghan was involved in 9/11 but the Western powers occupied Afghanistan in pursuit of objectives that can never be achieved through military means," he said while speaking to Al Jazeera's Ola Alfares.

He said that Pakistan was faced with a difficult situation after the US exit from the war-torn country and the Taliban takeover.

"The world including the US should think rationally for the sake of 40 million Afghan people or else the situation will lead towards chaos and terrorism," he said, mentioning the presence of ISIS in Kabul.

In case of any chaos in Afghanistan, Pakistan would be the biggest sufferer as the country had already been hosting three million refugees.

Misadventurous India

On the issue of relations with India, the premier said that Indian citizens were good people who had the misfortune of being ruled by fanatics.

"Only mad people can think of bringing two nuclear powers face to face,” he said in reference to the Narendra Modi-led Bharatya Janata Party.

On the issue of any adventure from the Indian side, the prime minister repeated the ''befitting response'' mantra.

"The country will respond exactly the way it did in 2019," he said, referring to the incident where an Indian fighter jet was shot and its pilot captured for violating Pakistan's territorial integrity.

Corruption concerns

While calling corruption an inimical to a country's growth, Imran said that the reason for poverty in countries like Pakistan was not lack of resources but corruption with their leadership ranks. “Corruption is something which destroys a country. The poor countries are poor not because they lack resources but because their leadership is corrupt."

The developing world is poor because the ruling elite siphoned off money and laundered it into offshore accounts, he said, adding the rule of law and public welfare were the two guiding principles of Riyasat-e-Madinah.

“A society is civilized only when it has the rule of law. Without rule of law, there is no future. When ministers start stealing, you cannot make progress,” he remarked.

Speaking about his political struggle, the prime minister said his fight was against the corrupt ruling elite who were destroying the country.

He told the interviewer that two dynastic parties - referring to PPP and PML-N - were entrenched in Pakistan's political fabric and fighting them off was like fighting a mafia.

He said both parties and the families controlling (Bhutto-Zardari and Sharif) possess sizeable fortune money, and even used state resources [when in power] against him, he added.

He said rooting out corruption was one of his fundamental mandats, while asserting that he would investigate his own ministers as well as "corruption by the ruling elite destroys the country".

About the prevalence of corruption in the lower tiers of the government, he said his administration was introducing automation that would eliminate it.

Sports as a guiding light

When asked about his sports career, the prime minister said cricket has in his family with his cousins and uncles already into it.

"Sports teaches you the ability to cope with bad times and defeat, and the dynamics of picking up yourself again [after a loss]," he said.

The premier said he extended his cricketing career by a few years so he could remain in the public eye in order to fulfil his dream of setting up a cancer hospital.

It was this very cause that compelled me to changed myself from being an introvert and shy person to [one of] the biggest fundraiser, he continued.

"Shaukat Khanum Hospital is the first such private facility in the world treating 75% patents free of charge," he said, adding he would never have been able to build the hospital if he had not learned struggle from cricket.

Administative rearguard

When asked about the pressures facing the economy, Imran responded that the PTI-led government had inherited the highest ever debt, fiscal deficit and current account deficit and it would take time to mount a recovery.

The situation has been exacerbated by the pandemic, with Pakistan also facing inflation owing to the price hike of commodities like edible oil and pulses which are imported," he added.

Regarding Covid-19, the prime minister said that Pakistan's response was declared among the best in terms of effectively navigated the pandemic while maintaining a balance between risk to people's lives and livelihood.

Talking about the mutiple education systems prevailing in the country, he said in order to do away with the disparity in the education system, the government had introduced one core educational curriculum with the consensus and consultation of all stakeholders.

Islamophobia

When the conversation turned to Islamophobia, the prime minister said that Muslim leaders had fail to portray the real face of Islam before the West, particularly after 9/11. He said it was one of the reasons Muslims residing in Western countries faced Islamophobia "despite the fact that terrorism had no relation with Islam".

"It is not possible for a single leader like me to make any change in the perceptions of people regarding Islamophobia. Rather the whole Muslim world must take a joint stance at the forums like the United Nations to make some difference," he added.