Pakistan briefs P-5 envoys on India dossier

Categorically rejects Indian denial of irrefutable evidence of its state sponsored terrorism

ISLAMABAD:

Two days after Pakistan presented specific proofs of Indian involvement in terrorism in its territory, the foreign secretary on Monday briefed the envoys of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) about the dossier on state sponsored terrorism by India.

“The envoys were apprised of India’s involvement in planning, promoting, aiding, abetting, financing and execution of terrorist activities in Pakistan,” said a statement issued by the foreign office.

“The dossiers containing irrefutable evidence of India’s state sponsorship of terrorism against Pakistan were handed over to them,” it added. The foreign office said Pakistan will continue to highlight India’s state sponsorship of terrorism and destabilizing activities against Pakistan.

The foreign office on Monday also categorically rejected the Indian Ministry of External Affairs’ denial of the irrefutable evidence provided by Pakistan on Indian state sponsorship of terrorism.

"Fully exposed, India has typically resorted to sophistry, obfuscation and re-fabrication. Bland denials and regurgitation of old litany of charges, however, will not change facts," it said in a statement. 

The reaction came after India rejected Pakistan's dossier as "figment of imagination" and an attempt to divert attention away from the country’s internal political and economic problems.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and chief military spokesperson Major General Babar Iftikhar on Saturday presented specific proof of Indian involvement in terrorism in Pakistan.

"The dossier presented by Pakistan extensively documents India’s active planning, promoting, aiding, abetting, financing and execution of terrorist activities against Pakistan," it said.

The statement pointed out that since 2001, Pakistan has faced more than 19,000 terrorist attacks on its soil and suffered 83,000 casualties. 

"The direct economic losses have been upward of US$126 billion. As a result of India’s sponsorship of terrorism, from across our borders, Pakistan continues to suffer immensely."

Meanwhile, India, the statement added, had mischievously masqueraded as a “victim” of terrorism and sought to mislead the world by hypocritically leveling terror allegations against Pakistan.

"It has also conducted false flag operations in IIOJK [Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir] and inside India to malign Pakistan.

“That façade has now been removed and the world can see the real face of India, one blackened by its decades-long state-terrorism in the IIOJK and state-sponsored terrorism and destabilization efforts in Pakistan.

"The most familiar and undeniable face of India’s state-sponsorship of terrorism against Pakistan is Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav – caught red-handed in March 2016. His complicity in subversion, sabotage and terrorism in Pakistan is part of the incontrovertible evidence against India," it said.

The foreign office said the world is also familiar with “saffron terror” orchestrated and unleashed by the far right Hindu extremist organizations like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against Muslims in India and against Pakistan.

“Masterminds of Mecca Masjid, Ajmer Dargah, and Samjhauta Express terrorist cases, like Swami Aseemanand, have been granted full state protection and acquitted in complete travesty of justice after having confessed to India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA)," it said.

It also referred to open threats to Pakistan by Indian civilian and military leaders, India’s sinister design to subvert China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and public statements by Indian politicians and security officials on ‘teaching Pakistan’ a lesson through use of terrorism.

The foreign office said the presence of ultra-orthodox terror organizations like the Islamic State (IS) and Al Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) in India as highlighted in recent UN reports indicate that India is emerging as a hotbed of UN designated terrorist organizations and posing a great risk to the region.

"Recent revelations by Fincen [Financial Crimes Enforcement Network] files illustrate how India uses its financial system for money laundering and other illegal activities such as terrorism financing, brazenly and with impunity," it added.

The foreign office said use of terrorism as an instrument of state policy by India makes it culpable under international law, the UN sanctions regime, and international counter-terrorism conventions.

It said it is the collective responsibility of the world community to hold India to account and take practical steps to proceed against the Indian nationals involved in patronage of terrorist entities.

"We also expect the UN counter-terrorism bodies to proceed on the basis of concrete evidence provided by Pakistan and urge India to renounce use of terrorism as an instrument of state policy.

“The UN must also play its part in dismantling the Indian terrorist infrastructure, details of which have been provided in the dossier," the statement concluded.