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India is mourning the deaths of 26 tourists in the horrific terror attack in the Baisaran Valley of Jammu And Kashmir's Pahalgam. The Indian government has launched a series of actions against the nuclear neighbour - Pakistan - for supporting and harbouring terrorists and terror groups. While the Indian government has not named Pakistan openly, its stern action has spooked Islamabad with its leaders claiming that India is planning to attack the country.
Pakistan's Prime Minister has demanded a "credible" probe into the Pahalgam terror attack, but his ministers are admitting his country's support to terror elements. Thus, his call for a probe looks nothing but hollow posturing and, at worst, a calculated distraction. While New Delhi has maintained for years that "talks and terrorism cannot go hand in hand", terror admissions by Pakistani leaders confirm what the world has long suspected: Pakistan continues to harbour, enable, and export terrorism.
The contradiction couldn’t be more glaring. On one hand, Pak PM Shehbaz Sharif publicly accuses India of making "baseless claims" regarding the Pahalgam attack, on the other, big names in Pak politics have openly acknowledged the country’s complicity in nurturing terrorist elements. These aren’t offhand remarks or historical footnotes; they are confessions that underscore the systemic rot within Pakistan’s security and political apparatus.
Pakistan admits supporting terrorists
1. Former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has confessed about Pakistan's past "as far as extremist groups are concerned". What he essentially referred to is Islamabad's historical link with terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, etc. His admission comes after the country's Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar echoed the same and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif inadvertently showed the country's support to the terror groups.
2. Dar admitted that Islamabad had an objection to the "condemnation of The Resistance Front (TRF)" in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) statement and they made sure that the reference to TRF was removed from the statement. This support of Islamabad for TRF - who claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam terror attack - came days after Pakistan said they had nothing to do with the attack.
Read More | Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif's X account 'withheld' in India after Pahalgam attack
3. Moreover, Asif in conversation with Sky News's Yalda Hakim disclosed Pakistan's history of backing terrorist groups. He was asked, "But you do admit, you do admit, sir, that Pakistan has had a long history of backing and supporting and training and funding these terrorist organisations?" Khawaja Asif said that his country has been doing "this dirty work for the United States for about 3 decades... and the West, including Britain." Asif also said that his country had an active role in supporting the Mujahideen during the first Afghan war. "Pakistan went through wave after wave of extremism…we suffered," he said.
These back-to-back admissions by Pakistani leaders about Islamabad supporting, funding and backing terrorists and terror organisation exposes the country's ill intentions and the fact that it is harbouring terror on its soil - a point that New Delhi has highlighted innumerable times.
Pak PM's 'hollow' call for probe
The Pakistani PM may want the international community to intervene in the Indo-Pak matters and attempt to cry foul claiming that they are being "falsely accused." However, the global community can see through its facade and is taking note of the number of admissions it is making on various platforms of supporting terrorism.
From Hafiz Saeed to Masood Azhar, the list of internationally designated terrorists who have found safe haven in Pakistan is well documented. United Nations reports and FATF proceedings have repeatedly highlighted Pakistan’s selective counter-terrorism, where groups targeting regional adversaries are often spared the crackdown. If PM Shehbaz Sharif wants a probe, he should first let India know the address of JeM chief Masood Azhar and LeT chief Hafiz Saeed wanted for their role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and 2019 Pulwama attack. Both are known to be freely roaming in Pakistan and are being shielded by the Pakistani administration and the Army.
If Pakistan is truly interested in regional peace and security, it must go beyond rhetoric. Empty words must give way to decisive action: arresting wanted terrorists, dismantling support networks, and, most importantly, ceasing the use of non-state actors as tools of foreign policy. Until then, every call for investigation will be seen for what it is: a smokescreen to deflect responsibility.
Why should the world take his calls for justice seriously when his government cannot—or will not—take action against terror outfits within its own borders? The lack of political will to dismantle these networks is not a matter of capacity but of intent.
Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.