5 hours ago
Last Updated:May 12, 2025, 23:55 IST
Pakistan defence minister Khawaja Asif said terrorists living inside his country's territory "do not indulge in terror activities, either in Pak or across the border in India"
Asked if there were terrorists or terror groups active in Pakistan, defence minister Khawaja Asif gave an emphatic "no" for an answer. (Image: AFP/File)
Denying his country sheltered terrorists, Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said the ongoing terrorism has to do with past US alliances and they have not supported it for years.
In an interview to the BBC hours after India carried out a military strike on terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) on May 7, Asif said terrorists living inside its territory “do not indulge in terror activities, either in Pak or across the border in India".
India carried out the precision strikes under Operation Sindoor as retaliation to the Pahalgam terror attack and in view of cross-border links to the tragedy. The Resistance Front (TRF), known to be affiliated with Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, claimed responsibility for the attack that claimed the lives of 26 tourists in Jammu and Kashmir.
Asked if there were terrorists or terror groups active in Pakistan, Asif gave an emphatic “no" for an answer. “These (terrorism and terrorists) are things from our past…" he told the BBC, pointing to the role of the US in arming certain Afghanistan groups in the 1980s during the Afghan-Soviet war.
He answered questions related to the funding of designated terror groups like the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and if Pakistan was helping them generate these through “legitimate" businesses.
“The terrorists, which it is claimed that they are in Pakistan or their terrorist outfits are in Pakistan, they were allies of the US efforts in Afghanistan in the 80s. This thing keeps haunting us… that all these people who were actually our allies, or we were their allies… they’re all ‘dry-cleaned’ now, but we are still ‘dirty’. They still blame us for people who were their allies," he was quoted.
He added: “Who decides that you or me are terrorists or we are not terrorists? These (terrorist) leaders are no more… they are living, not dead, but do not indulge in terror activities, either in Pakistan or across the border in India or in any other country."
India has repeatedly accused Pakistan of harbouring terrorists and fomenting their activities across the border, especially fuelling the Kashmir issue in India. In fact, the Pahalgam attack took place days after Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir called Kashmir a “jugular vein" for his country.
Earlier, in his address to the nation and while speaking about Operation Sindoor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a stern warning to Pakistan saying India will not succumb to nuclear blackmail and sent a clear message to the world: terror and trade, terror and talks cannot go together.
“Operation Sindoor is India’s new policy against terrorism. We have only kept in abeyance our operations against Pakistan and the future will depend on their behaviour," Modi said in the 22-minute address.
He had an advice for Pakistan’s rulers: “The terrorists they have been feeding and nurturing all these years will swallow Pakistan itself. If Pakistan wants to survive, it will have to root out terrorism. This is not an era of war, but this is also not the era of terror."
Location :Islamabad, Pakistan
First Published:News world 'They Don't Indulge In Terror Activities': What Pakistan Defence Minister Said On His Country Sheltering Terrorists
