New Delhi: Pakistan Interior Minister Brig Ijaz Ahmed Shah has left Prime Minister Imran Khan red-faced by admitting that his country has spent billions of rupees on proscribed terror outfit Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) on a national television on Thursday.
The statement of Pakistan interior minister has brought a major embarrassment to the country after a talk show aired the episode in which he confronted that the Imran Khan government has spent billions of rupees on the terror outfit to bring them to the mainstream.
Speaking to journalist Nadeem Malik, during a talk show, the minister said, "We have spent billions of rupees on JuD. We need to demotivate the members of the proscribed organisation and bring them down to the mainstream."
Earlier, during his maiden visit to the United States in July, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had made a similar revelation that his country still has about 30,000 to 40,000 militants "who have been trained and fought in some part of Afghanistan or Kashmir."
Ijaz's remarks came a day after Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the course of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session in Geneva, claimed that India has transformed Jammu and Kashmir into the largest "caged prison in this planet" after the abrogation of Article 370 and that the human rights were being "trampled with impunity" there.
India had rejected Shah Mahmood Qureshi's allegations and hit back saying a "fabricated narrative" on Jammu and Kashmir has come from "the epicentre of global terrorism" and from a nation, which conducts cross-border terrorism as a form of 'alternate diplomacy.
Islamabad has found itself isolated after being snubbed at the United Nations, as well as by countries like the United States, France, and Russia.
India's decision has been hailed internationally with several countries calling the move as India's internal matter even as Pakistan has been trying to internationalise the issue.
Islamabad has found itself completely isolated despite desperate attempts aimed at internationalising the issue.
Pakistan has approached various world leaders, including Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, French President Emmanuel Macron and the Jordanian King Abdullah II to seek their interventions into the issue, but in vain.
However, Pakistan has been told to engage bilaterally with India to end tensions. India has repeatedly made it clear that talks with Pakistan are only possible after Islamabad stops sponsoring terror.
Also read: Pak fails to convince international community over Kashmir: Interior Minister
