FO rejects ‘baseless propaganda’ against Pakistan by Indian leadership regarding terror financing
Foreign Office (FO) on Monday firmly rejected “all references and insinuations” made against Pakistan by Indian leaders last week regarding terror financing.
The remarks were made by three India leaders — including prime minister Narendra Modi — at the “No Money for Terror” conference hosted in New Delhi, which was attended by representatives of 72 countries.
Modi claimed that certain countries support terrorists as part of their foreign policy by offering “political, ideological and financial support to them” — a statement the Indian media portrayed to be about Pakistan.
The Indian external affairs minister, S Jaishankar alleged that there was “cross-border support” behind terrorist attacks through various terrorist groups.
He claimed that groups such as “Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad or Harkatul Mujahideen and their proxies thrive on assured financial support to commit barbaric acts of terror on Indian soil”.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that strict economic crackdown should be launched against “terror haven” countries whose governments have made terrorism their state policy — a statement termed by Indian media as a “veiled attack” on Pakistan.
The FO rebutted the “baseless propaganda” from the Indian side by mentioning its removal this October from the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list.
It also called out India for its “relentless terror campaign in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK)” where “security forces terrorise, torment and torture innocent Kashmiris with impunity, every day”.
Citing the acquittal of various criminals by the Indian courts — including the main suspect of the 2007 Samjhauta Express blast that killed 43 Pakistanis and 11 convicts of the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case during the 2002 Godhra riots in Gujarat — the FO castigated India for “harbouring and protecting terrorists”.
It also accused India of deliberately withholding “witnesses and credible evidence from Pakistani courts” during the 26/11 Mumbai attacks trial despite repeated requests over the last fourteen years.
Furthermore, the FO mentioned Indian Naval commander Kulbhushan Yadav as “undeniable proof of India’s direct involvement in sabotage and terror”.
It urged the international community to “hold India accountable for its actions in IIOJK, its patronage of terrorist entities and for fomenting terror in neighbouring countries”.
