Pakistan ‘haven’ for Islamist terror groups

Washington, May 27

Pakistan is a “haven” for several Islamist terror groups and successive Pakistani governments are widely believed to have supported some outfits as proxies in the country’s conflicts with its neighbours including India, a US Congressional research report has said.

The report, dated May 14, notes that Pakistan’s security services are seen by many independent analysts to be too willing to make distinctions between what they consider to be “good” and “bad” Islamist extremist groups, maintaining supportive relations with Afghan insurgents and anti-India militant groups operating from Pakistani territory.

“Pakistan is a haven for numerous Islamist extremist and terrorist groups, and successive Pakistani governments are widely believed to have tolerated and even supported some of these as proxies in Islamabad’s historical tensions and conflicts with neighbours,” said the latest report by the independent Congressional Research Service (CRS) on Pakistan.

The periodic CRS report on Pakistan is not an official report of the United States Congress, but prepared by noted experts on the issue to keep the lawmakers informed about the current state of affairs in Pakistan, the bilateral relationship and ties with its neighbours.

Noting the key steps taken by the Narendra Modi-led government in the last one year, including the decision to invite Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for his swearing-in ceremony and sending Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar to Islamabad on a SAARC Yatra, the report states that “serious tension” remains between the two South Asian neighbours.

“Serious tensions between Pakistan and India persist, and many observers see the Pakistani Army obstructing the efforts of Pakistani business interests to deepen commercial trade and other engagement with India, seeking resolution of territorial disputes as a prerequisite,” said the CRS report, authored by K Alan Kronstadt, specialist in South Asian Affairs.

According to the report, Pakistan’s more recent and apparently energetic development of short-range, nuclear-armed missiles —ostensibly in response to India’s purported “cold start” doctrine of rapid preemptive strikes with conventional forces — has raised fears about negative effects on crisis stability in the event of open warfare between Pakistan and India. — PTI 

TTP fighting Indian proxy war: Asif

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has alleged that Indian intelligence agencies and terrorists have joined hands to foment unrest in his country

The statement, reported by Radio Pakistan, came days after India's Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar remarked that “terrorists have to be neutralised only through terrorists”

Asif said the Indian intelligence network and terrorists have joined hands to foment unrest in Pakistan. He said the banned terror group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan is fighting Indian proxy war against Pakistan

The minister also alleged that India was involved in terrorist activities in Balochistan. India has always rejected such allegations