India helping terrorists in Pakistan: Khawaja Asif

Published January 12, 2015
Screengrab shows Defence Minister Khawaja Asif speaking during the interview on DawnNews.
Screengrab shows Defence Minister Khawaja Asif speaking during the interview on DawnNews.

Building on recent accusatory statements by government representatives, Federal Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Monday claimed that India was helping terrorist groups in Pakistan to carry out "heinous acts".

In an interview on DawnNews’s programme News Eye, the minister alleged that India "has designs on Pakistan".

“The Taliban have links with India. Also, India’s involvement in the insurgency in Balochistan cannot be ignored,” he said.

When asked to provide evidence for his claim, the minister dodged the question and proceeded to claim that a low intensity war was underway.

He stated that his allegations were based as much on conviction as on experience.

Public statements against India have been making their way into mainstream media. A day earlier, Adviser to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz had said that India was involved in acts carried out from Afghanistan’s soil in Pakistan.

Asif said that India wants to keep Pakistan busy with skirmishes on the eastern border so that the country remains distracted from the war on its western borders and the terrorism within.

Military sources had also claimed on Monday that one part of US Secretary of State John Kerry's visit would focus on the sharing of intelligence reports and evidence of Indian involvement in subversive activities across Pakistan. The evidence is alleged to credibly identify financial support, training and provision of weapons to militants.

Opinion

Editorial

Back in parliament
Updated 27 Jul, 2024

Back in parliament

It is ECP's responsibility to set right all the wrongs it committed in the Feb 8 general elections.
Brutal crime
27 Jul, 2024

Brutal crime

No effort has been made to even sensitise police to the gravity of crime involving sexual assaults, let alone train them to properly probe such cases.
Upholding rights
27 Jul, 2024

Upholding rights

Sanctity of rights bodies, such as the HRCP, should be inviolable in a civilised environment.
Judicial constraints
Updated 26 Jul, 2024

Judicial constraints

The fact that it is being prescribed by the legislature will be questioned, given the political context.
Macabre spectacle
26 Jul, 2024

Macabre spectacle

Israel knows that regardless of the party that wins the presidency, America’s ‘ironclad’ support for its genocidal endeavours will continue.