Pakistan funding terrorism: Viral journalist Yalda Hakim speaks about interviewing Khawaja Asif, ‘He made it clear…'

Mint

17-05-2025

Yalda Hakim has spoken about her interaction with Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif. The Australian journalist, who works for Sky News, earlier went viral in India because of her interview with the Pakistani minister after the Pahalgam terror attack.
On camera, Khawaja Asif blatantly admitted Pakistan's involvement with state-funded terrorism. During an interview with Ranveer Allahbadia, Yalda Hakim spoke about the interaction.
'I realised immediately that it was extraordinary. And, I thought maybe he didn't quite process what I was saying. Maybe. I misunderstood him. So I wanted clarity and I pushed him again initially,' she said.
'I sort of couldn't believe what I was hearing. He was saying, 'We did the dirty work of the West, and yes, we have these proxies, and they exist, and this is how it is'.'
'So, I did jolt and I said, 'Well, is that your justification? Are you justifying now that Pakistan has this connection with terrorist groups because we're going back to the Mujahedin, the CIA and the dirty work? So, it's now just part of what Pakistan does'," the Australian journalist said.
'The interview went for about 18 minutes and he didn't back down at any point. He made it clear to me that he understood what I was saying. He was going to say what he was going to say. Pakistan has had the longest history and what has been the underbelly, and the so-called deep state of Pakistan and how they operate,' she added.
Yalda Hakim told BeerBiceps about her younger days. She was born in Kabul. Her father had studied architecture in Czechoslovakia but returned to Afghanistan. When the Soviet occupation destabilised the country, he refused to join the military.
So, the family, Yalda, her mother and two older siblings, fled Afghanistan at night, travelling on foot and horseback with the help of people smugglers. They faced danger from Mujahideen and aerial bombing.
They reached Pakistan, where her mother, a midwife, worked with an Austrian NGO in the Swat Valley. Her father opened an architectural firm in Islamabad.
After two years, an architect in Australia sponsored them, and the family moved there. Yalda was around three-and-a-half years old.
She grew up in Sydney, became a TV journalist and was later hired by the BBC in London. After over a decade at BBC, she joined Sky News to lead an evening foreign affairs show and continues to travel for her work.