ISLAMABAD: Distancing itself from Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s recent statement in which he tacitly absolved India of involvement in terrorist acts on Pakistani soil, the Foreign Office on Monday said it could be the minister’s personal opinion but not Islamabad’s known stance on the contentious issue.
“The banned TTP, Al Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi have joined hands and are using each other’s resources to carry out terrorist attacks in Pakistan,” Malik told reporters recently.
He also said no foreign hand, including that of India, was involved in fomenting terrorism in the country.
“We were taken aback by what Malik said. Pakistan has taken up the issue of India’s backing for militants in the Tribal Areas using Afghanistan’s soil as well as the insurgents in Balochistan many a time with the Indian authorities so how can we say now that the Indians are completely innocent,” a senior official said.
Another diplomat said the FO was mulling taking up the matter with higher authorities with a request for Malik’s clarification. “The FO could request the PM’s office to stop Malik from issuing such statements in the future,” the diplomat said.
