Uighur militants eliminated from Pakistan’s territory: Asif

BEIJING: Pakistan has eliminated all members of the Uighur militant group the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) from its territory, but must remain vigilant to ensure they don’t return, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said in Beijing on Sunday.
China blames the ETIM for carrying out attacks in its far western region of Xinjiang, home to the Uighur people, although many foreign experts doubt the group’s existence as a cohesive group. China, Pakistan’s major ally in the region, has long urged Islamabad to weed out what it says are militants from Xinjiang, who are holed up in a lawless tribal belt. “We believe they’re all eliminated,” Khawaja Asif told reporters on the sidelines of a security forum. “I think there (were) a small number in tribal areas, they’re all gone or eliminated. There are no more there.”
It is just as much in Pakistan’s interests as China’s to fight the Uighur militants, Asif said, denying there was any difference of opinion between Beijing and Islamabad on Pakistan’s efforts to tackle the problem. “The fight against ETIM is our own fight. It’s not only China’s fight. It’s a joint fight against ETIM, between Pakistan and China, so there is absolutely no difference of opinion on the elimination of ETIM from our tribal areas,” he added. “We have to be vigilant for a long time that this menace, this infection, does not return.”
China and Pakistan are getting ready to finalise a deal for China to sell eight submarines to Pakistan, Asif said, in what could be one of China’s largest overseas weapons sales once it is signed. “It’s moving smoothly, it’s going ahead,” he said. “We are at the final stage. I think it won’t take very long.” — Reuters
APP adds: Khawaja Asif said a stable and peaceful Afghanistan was a guarantee for peace and stability of Pakistan and the region. The minister lauded the proactive and positive efforts made by China in finding a peaceful resolution of the Afghan problem.
The minister condemned all acts of terrorism and called on the world community to recognise the basic reasons causing fissures and fault lines existing within the terrorism-affected regions.
He also mentioned the hitherto unresolved conflicts of Palestine and Kashmir, the unending events of gross human rights violations and unfulfilled promises by the world community failing to address the root causes of these conflicts.
Khawaja Asif said that Pakistan gave refuge to over three million Afghans during the Afghan war. The minister said continued instability in that country had severe impacts, adding that Pakistan had suffered a loss of 60,000 lives and billions of dollars in economic loss. He said that Pakistan’s armed forces had conducted various operations in tribal areas since 2003 and the latest Operation Zarb-e-Azb vastly outnumbered achievements compared to other international forces’ achievements in Afghanistan during the last 13 years.
He said the world needed to recognise the sacrifices by Pakistan over the past three decades.Referring to South Asian security and stability, he said that all disputes needed to be resolved amicably to offset the chances of escalation.