Pakistan has been a breeding ground for terrorists is an open secrete. Time and again top leaders of the country have in some way or the other accepted this fact and expressed their helplessness over the issue. The fact was cemented further when Pakistan defence minister Khawaja Asif accepted that his country has had a history of backing, supporting and funding terrorist groups for decades.
In an interview with Sky News, Asif on the question of Pakistan’s role in funding terrorists said: “We have been doing this dirty work for the United States for about three decades, and West, including Britain.”
The statement came amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan following a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam district in which 27 tourists were gunned down. The terrorists have been linked to Pakistan-based organisations.
Imran Khan’s admission of Pakistan harbouring “30,000 to 40,000” terrorists
This is not the first time that a top leader like the defence minister of the country has accepted about Pakistan being a breeding ground for terrorists. In fact, in 2019 the then prime minister of Pakistan Imran Khan at an event in the US had admitted that about “30,000 to 40,000” terrorists who had trained and fought in “some part of Afghanistan or Kashmir” were in his country.
While speaking at the US Institute of Peace he had said, “Until we came into power, the governments did not have the political will, because when you talk about militant groups, we still have about 30,000-40,000 armed people who have been trained and fought in some part of Afghanistan or Kashmir.”
“There was a watershed in Pakistani politics. In 2014, the Pakistani Taliban slaughtered 150 schoolchildren at Army Public School. All the political parties signed the National Action Plan and we all decided after that, that we will not allow any militant groups to operate inside Pakistan,” he added.
India’s accusation
India has long accused Pakistan of harbouring and aiding terrorist organisations and using them as proxies to carry out terror activities in Jammu & Kashmir and other parts of the country.
The responsibility for the Pahalgam attack was claimed by The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.
In response, a series of punitive diplomatic actions, like suspending trade, the Indus Water Treaty and SAARC visas have been taken by the Indian government against Pakistan.