LAHORE: Italian Centre for International Relations Chairman Prof Dr Andrea Margelletti says Pakistan’s National Action Plan (NAP) is an international plan to combat terrorism.

“The Pakistani government is doing more to counter terrorism while there is no phenomena like Islamic terrorism in the world,” he said at a seminar titled ‘European perspective on the issue of terrorism in Pakistan and Afghanistan’ by Punjab University Pakistan Study Centre on Friday.

Prof Margelletti said that Islam was a religion of peace but there were certian organisations and groups committing terrorism in the name of Islam. He said that Pakistan was little known in Europe before 9/11 but things dramatically changed after the incident and Pakistan became a centre of discussion.

He said 9/11 was not only an attack on the US but on the Western civilisation also.

“The perception about terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan has changed due to two reasons: the Taliban and jihadists are a regional problem while the IS is on the international scenario,” he said.

Ambassador Javid Husain said the Pakistani government had always tried to combat terrorism. “The US policy on combating terrorism in Afghanistan has four lapses,” he said.

“Firstly, the US has completely shifted its resources and attention from Afghanistan to Gulf which provided a space for the Taliban to gain power. Secondly, while forming a new government in Kabul, the US neglected the Taliban. Thirdly, for more than 10 years, the US tried military means to resolve the Afghan conflict, and lastly, while establishing the government in Kabul, the US tried to infuse western political values in Afghanistan.”

He said Indian and Afghan governments must be told by the international community to stop supporting terrorism in Pakistan.

Prof Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi said terrorism must be addressed through four means. “The first is military and intelligence, the second non-military mechanism, the third societal and religious leaders and the fourth is media houses,” he added.

Prof Dr Massarrat Abid said that Italy and Pakistan shared a common vision and goal on many crucial issues such as terrorism and security. She said that no country could prosper without the cooperation of international community in political, economic, cultural, security and defence issues.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2017