Kumar Bahukhandi
Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister Ishaq Dar.(Image credit:X)
Dar boasted that Islamabad got the reference to both the TRF and Pahalgam dropped from a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution last week that condemned the terror attack.
New Delhi:Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister Ishaq Dar has openly claimed credit in his country’s National Assembly for shielding The Resistance Front (TRF), a front for the terror group Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, that initially claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam massacre of tourists. Mr Dar boasted that Islamabad got the reference to both the TRF and Pahalgam dropped from a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution last week that condemned the terror attack.
The UNSC statement last week had condemned the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22, but there was no reference to either TRF or “Pahalgam”, the specific site of the attack. After the attack, the TRF claimed responsibility for the massacre but, later under enormous pressure, denied it. It may be noted that while Pakistan is currently a non-permanent member of the UNSC, its “benefactor and all-weather friend” China is in a position to block any UNSC resolution or statement, as it is a permanent member of the UNSC and has the veto power.
Speaking in Pakistan’s National Assembly, Mr Dar was quoted by media reports as stating, “On behalf of Pakistan, I had two objections (to the UNSC statement). First, only Pahalgam was mentioned, and secondly, the blame was put on The Resistance Forum; I thought this was not acceptable. You have to write Jammu and Kashmir along with Pahalgam. I gave clear instructions to our ambassador at the UN to ensure the amendments are made. I received phone calls from big capitals to come to a consensus on the draft, but I told them nothing doing.”
According to reports, Mr Dar also claimed there was a back-and-forth over the UNSC statement, particularly with the United States. He also claimed that for the TRF to be singled out in the press release, evidence should be presented and alleged that reports in the media that the TRF had claimed responsibility “were all lies”.
The Pakistani deputy PM also claimed the TRF is merely a “forum” formed by the local population in J&K and rejected its classification as a terror group, completely ignoring that the terror group has been routinely accepting responsibility for all terror attacks in the Jammu region for the past four years.
The fact that there was no reference to TRF in the UNSC statement raised eyebrows. This had been in stark contrast to the UNSC statement issued after the Pulwama terror attack in February 2019, which had named Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammmed (JeM).
Also, unlike the UNSC statement after the Pulwama attack that had urged all states to cooperate “actively with the government of India and all other relevant authorities” to bring the perpetrators to justice, the UNSC statement on the Pahalgam terror attack had skipped any reference to the need to cooperate with the “government of India” and had only used the term “relevant authorities”.
Last week, the 15-nation UN Security Council (UNSC) had issued a statement condemning “in the strongest terms” the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir. ( Source : Deccan Chronicle ) Pakistan foreign minister Ishaq Dar TRF UNSC India
( Source : D C )
