UK should check int’l financing of terrorists: COAS

LONDON: The Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), General Raheel Sharif, has called upon the United Kingdom to play a role in checking international financing and communication of terrorists.
The army chief said this during a meeting with Britain’s Permanent Secretary at the Home Office Mark Sedwill, Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa tweeted on Friday.
Earlier, while speaking at the Royal United Services Institute, London, an independent think tank on defence and security, General Raheel said the Kashmir issue was an unfinished agenda and a major cause of conflicts. He urged the world community to help in resolving the longstanding issue of Kashmir, if it wanted genuine peace in the region. He said Indian intransigence, violations of ceasefire on the Line of Control (LOC) and indirect strategy against Pakistan were negatively affecting the region. He said the dispute between Pakistan and India resided in the Kashmir issue.
About Afghanistan, General Raheel said, Pakistan would continue supporting all efforts for enduring and permanent peace and warned against detractors and spoilers of these efforts. “While we continue to support enduring and permanent peace in Afghanistan, let us all beware of detractors and spoilers,” he added.
General Raheel said reconciliation was the only way forward in Afghanistan and everyone should support it.
The COAS said, “We have brotherly relations and blood ties with the people of Afghanistan,” adding that border management and greater international cooperation was a must for the regional peace. He, however, said, the anti-Pakistan propaganda must come to an end.
Commenting on Pakistan’s security environment, he said it was becoming conducive for upward economic trajectory, adding, “Our efforts will continue towards bringing total security.”
The army chief also visited the Third UK Armed Division in the field and saw their training. UK CGS General Nicholas Carter was present on the occasion.