Pakistan Reveals The Well Known Truth

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In an interesting revelation, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has admitted that there were 40 terrorist camps in Pakistan! And about 40,000 terrorists of all hues are right now present in Pakistani soil. This admission came during Imran Khan’s first official visit to Washington. He further said that successive governments in Islamabad did not share the ‘truth’ with the US. 

Mr. Khan said Pakistan was fighting the US war on terror. He observed, “Pakistan has nothing to do with 9/11. Al-Qaeda was in Afghanistan. There were no militant Taliban in Pakistan. But we joined the US war. Unfortunately, when things went wrong, I blame my government, we did not tell the US exactly the truth on the ground,” Imran Khan said this while addressing a Capitol Hill reception hosted by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Chairperson of the Congressional Pakistan Caucus. At another event at the United States Institute of Peace during his three-day visit to Washington DC, Mr. Khan said that his country still has about 30,000 to 40,000 militants “who have been trained and fought in some part of Afghanistan or Kashmir.” 

India has termed the Pakistan Prime Minister’s remarks as a "glaring admission" and asserted that it is time for Islamabad to take credible and irreversible action against terrorists. It is a glaring admission by the Pakistani leadership," India’s Ministry of External Affairs said. It is time for Pakistan to take ‘credible and irreversible’ action against terrorists, the Indian External Affairs Ministry said. 

India’s Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu also took a veiled dig at Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan for his remarks that thousands of terrorists still exist on Pakistani soil. The Vice-President said, "Encouraging terror has become state policy of some countries including our neighbour. 

However, the Pakistan Prime Minister revealed in Washington what the world already knew. He also did not mention anything about what action his government has taken against the almost 40,000 terrorists. This proves that the Pakistani charade is continuing. 

Analysts say that the numbers given by Mr. Khan were considerably higher than those submitted by Pakistan at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global anti-terror funding watchdog. Pakistan could face a “blacklisting” in October if it fails to comply with commitments on ending terrorism according to its action plan. In Schedule-4 of Pakistan’s “Anti-Terrorism Act”, which details banned organisations, the government has listed only 8,000 active militants. 

Mr. Khan’s statement has opened up the question of effectiveness in Pakistan's much publicised compliance of the FATF Action Plan, and would allow countries like India to raise the issue at FATF,” a Pakistan analyst opined. 

This is not the first time Mr. Khan has sparked controversy by speaking plainly about terrorism. In April this year, he was criticised in Pakistani parliament for declaring that anti-Iran terror groups operated from Pakistani soil, during a meeting with Iranian President Rouhani in Tehran. 

The blow-hot-blow-cold policy of the Trump administration towards Pakistan has not been successful. Last year, the Trump administration had stopped civil and military aid worth US$ 1.3 billion to Pakistan and the US-Pak bilateral ties had nosedived. However, Washington apparently has had a change of heart during the recent visit of Imran Khan. 

The US is keen to court Islamabad in its quest to reach a pact with the Afghan Taliban. President Trump knows well that the Afghan Taliban is virtually controlled by the Pakistani military establishment. The US is in talks with the Taliban that are being facilitated by Pakistan. Islamabad wants to be the most influential player in Kabul. Pakistan’s game plan is to appear as a friend of Washington and facilitate the pull-out of US troops from Afghanistan and then play the Kingmaker in Afghan politics. This could have serious security implications not only for South Asia but the extended neighbourhood as well.

Script: Kaushik Roy: AIR Analyst.

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