Amid attempts by Pakistan to present a false narrative on Kashmir, the country’s interior minister has admitted that Islamabad has spent billions of rupees on terror outfit Jamat-ud-Dawa.
Interior Minister Brigadier (Retd) Ijaz Ahmed Shah on Thursday in an interview with Pakistani news channel Hum News said that Pakistan’s ruling elite had “destroyed the nation”.
Admitting to Pakistan spending millions on proscribed terror groups like Hafiz Saeed’s JuD, Shah said that they should now be brought into the mainstream.
The minister further admitted that Pakistan has failed to garner support from the international community on its narrative about Kashmir, saying despite Islamabad’s efforts the world “rather believes India”.
“We say that they (India) clamped curfew, that there is no medicine, but people (across the world) don’t believe us, and rather believe India,” he said.
The minister is considered as a powerful minister and is close to both Imran Khan and the military establishment.
The embarrassing statements by the minister come after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had reportedly claimed that his country had the support of over 58 nations on the Kashmir issue.
At the 42nd session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Tuesday, Pakistan tried to present a false narrative on Kashmir with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi stating that the Valley had been converted into the “largest prison” with people being denied access to basic amenities following the abrogation of Article 370.
Pakistan further asked the Council to conduct an international investigation, urging the world rights body not to remain “indifferent” over India’s move on Kashmir.
However, the Indian delegation led by Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs Vijay Thakur Singh, effectively rebutted Pakistan’s allegations on human rights violations in Kashmir.
India said there was a need to call out those who are “misusing” the United Nations Human Rights Council platform for “malicious political agenda under the garb of human rights.”
Pakistan had knocked the doors of the UNHRC after it failed to gain global attention on Kashmir issue at the UNSC.
The rare closed-door consultations on Kashmir by the UN Security Council ended without any outcome or statement from the powerful 15-nation UN organ, dealing a huge snub to Pakistan and its all-weather ally China to internationalise the issue, which an overwhelming majority stressed is a bilateral matter between New Delhi and Islamabad.
Majority of the 15 members said there should not be any statement or outcome issued after the consultations and their will prevailed, leaving China to come out and make a statement in its national capacity followed by Pakistan.