“We should impose restrictions on activities of elements like LeT and JeM so that we can show the global community that we’ve put our house in order,” Asif told Geo News while responding to a BRICS declaration that named several terrorist groups, including the two, as threats to regional security.
Asif said Pakistan could no longer afford to “test” its friends on the issue of terrorism.
“Friends like China should not be tested every time, particularly in the changed (global) scenario,” the minister added.
Only a day earlier, the foreign office in Islamabad, as well as defence minister Khurram Dastagir, had rejected the BRICS declaration, saying there were no safe havens for terrorists inside Pakistan.
In fact, the foreign office had said Pakistan was itself a victim of terror. But foreign minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said, “I am not making any political statement.. we cannot afford to shut our eyes on activities of these organisations in our country. If we continue to do that we will always face such embarrassments.”
Asif admitted that Pakistan had made mistakes in the past, saying there was no need for the country to participate in the proxy war in Afghanistan during Ziaul Haq’s tenure, and later in the war on terror. “There’s an urgent need for a clean break from our past. In 1979, Pakistan had made a wrong decision and acted like a proxy for the next decade. After 9/11, we again made a wrong decision and adopted a war, which was never ours. We have suffered uncountable losses of lives and properties in this war,” he said.
Asif said Pakistan needed to get rid of its false image. “We’ve no stakes involved but are only carrying the baggage of our past follies. We cannot correct ourselves as long as we do not accept historical facts,” he said.