Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has stressed the need for breaking the “fiction” that Pakistan has a different perspective on the issue of terrorism.
“Absolutely, that’s our position, that’s what I want you to do… to break this fiction that has been fed to you that we have a different on this issue,” he said in an interview with Rajdeep Sardesai of India Today on Friday.
He was responding to a query: one man’s terrorist cannot be another man’s freedom fighter. The question was raised against the backdrop of his address to the Shangai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers meeting earlier in the day.
Read: A desperate Indian foreign minister bursts out against Pakistan at SCO briefing 25 127
The scion of the Bhutto dynasty became the first foreign minister to visit India in almost a decade. The foreign minister is attending the SCO CFM meeting at the invitation of his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who heads the foreign ministers’ council of SCO, which is a regional political and security bloc whose members include Russia, China, India and Pakistan.
In his address to the SCO, Bilawal said let’s not get caught up in weaponising terrorism for diplomatic point scoring. He went on to add that the collective security of the people was their joint responsibility.
Sardesai spoke about allegations of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in India and Islamabad’s efforts to fight terrorism despite “sponsoring” it.
“This wolf whistling around the word terrorism which is ultimately an Islamophobic wolf whistle not only to whip up Hindu sentiment in India but also to browbeat Pak, that might be election strategy for some but not effective terrorism strategy,” said Bilawal.
Bilawal, whose mother Benazir Bhutto died in a terror attack in 2007, called for better coordination, not just between India and Pakistan but also among the international community. “We can achieve far more than we have today.”
He went on to add that the issue of terrorism would never be resolved if it was turned into a domestic and geopolitical point scoring.
The foreign minister added that Pakistan was willing to address India’s concerns regarding terrorism, but it expected the same from New Delhi. “We are ready and willing to engage and address India’s concerns but India will have to address our concerns too,” he said.
He added: “India will have to explain what Kulbushan Yadav — who is an Indian spy sentenced to death by Pakistan for his involvement in subversive activities — not a nonstate actor but a navy commander was doing in Pakistan carrying out terrorist attacks on Pakistani soil. Does that not come under cross-border terrorism?”
The foreign minister said it was just one incident of such a nature, highlighting the bombing of Samjhauta Express.
To a query, he said the trial on the Mumbai attacks was facing delay because India had not been producing witnesses as a legal requirement.
Bilawal reiterated Pakistan’s “unchanged” position, saying that the country could not engage in any meaningful dialogue with India till the latter reviewed its “unilateral and illegal actions” of August 5, 2019, revoking the special status of Kashmir.
“Unless India reviews the action it took on August 5, 2019 (abrogation of Article 370), Pakistan is not in a position to engage bilaterally with India… As far as Pakistan’s position on bilateral relations with India or any meaningful engagement or dialogue with my Indian counterpart, our position remains unchanged,” said the foreign minister.
“Pakistan has suffered the most. I myself am a victim of terrorism, so Pakistan and I are wholly committed to combating this menace,” he said.
In an interview given to BBC Hindi before the meeting, Bilawal said that the onus was on India to produce an environment that is conducive to talks.
He mentioned India’s steps to scrap the autonomous status of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019. He called for reviewing such moves by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.
“I am exclusively here in the context of the SCO meeting and I have earlier told you about Pakistan’s position because of this I have not submitted any bilateral request to the host,” said the foreign minister.
When asked if the foreign minister could have attended the event virtually, he said that the trip shows Pakistan’s importance towards the SCO. He was of the view that the CFM was more of an official gathering than other events where the incumbent government members participated virtually.
It was important to present Pakistan’s position at the event, he said and reiterated that there was no change in the country’s stance on Kashmir.
