November 21, 2024

In a stunning disclosure, former Pakistan PM, Nawaz Sharif, has admitted that militant organizations were active in Pakistan and that there was a Pakistani hand in the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai. He has also questioned the policy of allowing the so-called “non-state actors” (a euphemism for terrorists trained by the ISI and the Pakistani army but left to fend for themselves if caught) to cross the border and kill people in India.

This is in line with what India has been telling the world since the beginning. The Western nations fund Pakistan to fight terror, mainly the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But a lot of that money is being used to fund terrorists trained and let loose in India. Pakistan has for long been playing the good-terrorist, bad terrorist game. It convinces the West that Taliban is bad and it coyly denies having any hand in attacks in India. The Western nations have been too blind to see through this game. But Donald Trump has recently warned Pakistan about terrorists operating on its soil and this disclosure by Sharif will definitely strengthen India’s hand.

People in Pakistan have tried to rubbish what Sharif has said. Imran Khan, leader of the Tehreek-e-Insaf party, has said that Sharif is speaking Modi’s language. He called him a gaddar and compared him with Mir Jafar. The truth is very hard to admit, especially when it has been officially hidden for years. As long as people like Hafeez Saeed are allowed to operate with impunity in Pakistan and target India with their nefarious designs, living in denial mode will not help Pakistan. It has to give up its proxy war against India otherwise very soon no other nation, apart from China, is going to support it in any world forum. India has already displayed that it will not shy from surgical strikes in Pakistani territory. Pakistan has to stop training and supporting the terrorists and ban terrorist organizations targeting India from their soil. Else, it must prepare for many more such strikes in future.