Evidence of Indian terrorism shared with world community: Qureshi

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi Sunday said that Pakistan had already shared solid evidence of Indian state-sponsored terrorism inside Pakistan with the international community, which was once again proved after its involvement in Johar Town Lahore terrorist blast.

In a press statement, he expressed the confidence that Financial Action Task Force (FATF) would take action against India after evaluating the vital evidence.

He said now Islamabad had irrefutable evidence of Indian terror financing. “Is it not a responsibility of the Financial Action Task Force to hold India accountable for its terror financing? If any action was not taken, then it will show double standards,” the minister said while posing a question. The foreign minister said that it was their right to raise voice against such double standards.

If FATF did not take any notice of India’s terror financing, then it would appear that the forum was a political forum and not a technical one. Qureshi lauded efforts of the investigation agencies, counterterrorism department, agencies and Punjab police for showing professionalism in unearthing the characters involved in the blast. He said that he, along with National Security Advisor Moeed Yousuf, had held a press conference some time back, in which they had shared their concerns with the world community. The world was provided with evidence about Indian training of terrorists and supply of weapons, besides its terror financing, he added.

Qureshi said they had sent a dossier to the United Nations, ambassadors of P-5 countries, diplomatic community and media. If the earlier evidence were taken seriously by them, terror incidents like the one in Johar Town Lahore and several other such acts in Balochistan would not have taken place, taking precious human lives, he added.

The foreign minister also reiterated that Pakistan had taken steps against money laundering and terror financing through effective legislation, as in the past, the national resources were plundered and laundered outside the country.

FM Qureshi said the core foreign policy of the government was aimed at stabilising the economy and attracting foreign investment. Speaking in a Radio Pakistan programme, Qureshi said the foreign ministry, in collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce, was making efforts to promote trade, facilitate remittances and attract foreign investment.

The FM said the government’s aim was transformation of the country from geo-politics to geo-economics. About Afghanistan, Qureshi said the unjustified criticism of Pakistan from Afghan officials was an indication of the failure of their policies.

He said a number of Afghan people understand the importance of Pakistan and are supportive to the narrative of our government. The FM regretted that the Afghan media was projecting negative image of Pakistan because as per reports of the EU DisinfoLab, there were a number of fake media channels in the neighbouring country to defame Pakistan.