ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office asked the United States on Wednesday to objectively look at the security situation in South Asia instead of being swayed by Indian propaganda against Pakistan.

While rejecting the ‘unwarranted’ reference in the statement issued after the US-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, the FO said that Pakistan’s objections had been communicated to Washington through diplomatic channels.

“We expect and urge the partner countries to take an objective view of the issues of peace and security in South Asia and refrain from associating themselves with positions that are one-sided, politically motivated, and divorced from ground realities,” it further said.

The US and India had urged Pakistan to take “immediate, sustained, and irreversible action” to ensure that no territory under its control was used for terrorist attacks.

Washington, Delhi repeat do-more mantra

The two sides had called for the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai attack and Pathankot attack to be brought to justice. They also demanded action against terrorist groups proscribed by the United Nations Security Council 1267 Sanctions Committee, including Al Qaeda, the militant Islamic State group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, and Hizbul Mujahideen.

The FO said some of the terrorist groups named in the statement were either non-existent or had been dismantled. This, it contended, reflected the “misplaced counter-terrorism focus of both countries”.

“It is unfortunate that a bilateral cooperation mechanism is being used to target a third country for political expediency and to mislead public opinion away from the real and emerging terrorism threats,” it said, adding that the assertions made against Pakistan lacked credibility and were malicious.

Pakistan, it reminded, had remained the world’s “major, proactive, reliable and willing” partner in the fight against terrorism.

“Pakistan’s successes and sacrifices in countering terrorism are unparalleled and widely acknowledged by the international community, including the United States. No country in the region has sacrificed more for peace than Pakistan,” it maintained.

India, it maintained, had levelled these allegations against Pakistan in its desperate bid to hide its state-terrorism and brutal atrocities against the subjugated Kashmiris in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

The FO urged the international community to condemn India’s use of terrorism as an instrument of state policy and the impunity that continues to be associated with it. “Failing to take cognisance of this serious situation is tantamount to abdication of international responsibility,” it said.

India’s Minister of Defence Rajnath Singh and Minister of External Affairs Dr S. Jaishankar arrived in Washington on April 11 for the fourth US-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue. US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd J. Austin represented the United States in the dialogue that followed a virtual meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joseph Biden.

In the joint statement, both sides committed to continue exchange of information about sanctions and designations against terrorist groups and individuals, countering violent radicalism, use of internet for terrorism, and cross-border movement of terrorists.

They also emphasised the importance of upholding international standards on anti-money laundering and “combating the financing of terrorism by all countries, consistent with the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force”.

The ministers welcomed the convening of the 18th Meeting of the India-US Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism and the 4th Session of the India-US Designations Dialogue in October 2021.

Anwar Iqbal in Washington also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2022