Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Nafees Zakaria on Tuesday said that Pakistan is "seriously concerned" about the threat posed by terrorism and extremism in the South Asian region. Zakaria was speaking in reference to the BRICS' leaders summit document which named militant groups allegedly based in Pakistan as a regional security concern.

"Many terrorist groups based in the region — including in Afghanistan — such as the [banned] Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and its associates like Jamaatul Ahrar (JuA) have been responsible for extreme acts of violence against Pakistani people," Zakaria said.

"We are deeply concerned at the presence of [banned] groups, like Daesh, East Turkestan Islamic Movement and Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, in the ungoverned spaces in Afghanistan as they pose a threat to peace and security in the region."

Zakaria further said that Pakistan is concerned about the rise of extremist ideologies and intolerance in the region, which have been "encouraging social stratification and systematic targeting of minorities".

Earlier on Tuesday, Defence Minister Khurram Dastagir refuted the BRICS nations' claim about the presence of militant groups allegedly based in Pakistan.

While talking to the media after the Defence Cabinet Committee meeting, Dastagir said, "We have already said that there are no terrorist sanctuaries in Pakistan."

"Terrorist safe havens are found in Afghanistan; Pakistan does not fear any external aggression as its Army, Navy and Air Force are keeping a strict eye on the situation," he added.

From left, Brazil's President Michel Temer, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South Africa's President Jacob Zuma and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pose for a group photo during the BRICS Summit at the Xiamen International Conference and Exhibition Center in Xiamen, southeastern China's Fujian Province on Monday.— AP
From left, Brazil's President Michel Temer, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South Africa's President Jacob Zuma and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pose for a group photo during the BRICS Summit at the Xiamen International Conference and Exhibition Center in Xiamen, southeastern China's Fujian Province on Monday.— AP

On Monday, the leaders of the five emerging market BRICS powers, for the first time, named militant groups allegedly based in Pakistan as a regional security concern and called for their patrons to be held to account.

India welcomed the move — which participated at a summit in the Chinese city of Xiamen — as an important step forward in the fight against militant attacks.

Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa make up the BRICS grouping. The group had called for an immediate end to violence in Afghanistan.

“We, in this regard, express concern on the security situation in the region and violence caused by the Taliban, ISIS...Al Qaeda and its affiliates, including Eas­tern Turkistan Islamic Move­ment, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Haqqani network, Lashkar-i-Taiba, Jaish-i-Mohammad, TTP and Hizbut Tahrir,” the leaders had said in the declaration.

In the 43-page declaration, Xi, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Brazilian President Michel Temer and South African President Jacob Zuma had said they would work together to improve global economic governance to foster “a more just and equitable international order”.

The BRICS had called for “comprehensive reform” of the United Nations and the UN Security Council “with a view to making it more representative, effective and efficient, and to increase the representation of the developing countries so that it can adequately respond to global challenges”.

The five also pledged their opposition to protectionism, a theme increasingly taken up by host Chinese President Xi Jinping as anti-globalisation sentiment in the West poses a threat to China’s vast export markets.

Opinion

Editorial

Seeking investment
Updated 01 Nov, 2024

Seeking investment

Foreign visits will be fruitless unless crucial structural, policy reforms directly affecting investors are focused.
State-backed terror
01 Nov, 2024

State-backed terror

OVER the past year or so, India’s reportedly malign activities in foreign countries have increasingly come under the radar, with
Shared crisis
01 Nov, 2024

Shared crisis

WITH Lahore experiencing unprecedented levels of smog, the Punjab government has announced a series of “green...
Property valuation
Updated 31 Oct, 2024

Property valuation

Market valuation rates will not help boost tax revenues without plugging such loopholes in the system.
Hitting a wall
31 Oct, 2024

Hitting a wall

PAKISTAN still has a long way to go in defeating polio. Despite our decades-long fight against the debilitating...
Kurram violence
31 Oct, 2024

Kurram violence

DESPITE years of intermittent and bloody conflict in Kurram, the state has been unable to bring lasting peace to ...