In Riyadh, Asaduddin Owaisi targets Pakistan Army chief: ‘US-designated terrorist sitting with Asim Munir'

Hindustan Times

5 days ago

Asaduddin Owaisi of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) said there are "clear evidence" of Pakistan's involvement with terrorism.
Speaking at an interaction in Riyadh, Asaduddin Owaisi, who is a member of the all-party delegation led by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Baijayant Panda, pointed out the promotion of Pakistani Army chief Asim Munir as Field Marshal and how a US-designated terrorist was seen sitting beside him at a celebratory event. The AIMIM chief also referred to a photo to prove his point.
Citing the need to control the terror funding to terrorist organisations, Owaisi urged that Pakistan should be put back on the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog.
"Pakistan must be brought back to the FATF grey list. That is where we will be able to control this terror financing of all these terrorist organisations. When this person (Asim Munir) was made a Field Marshal in Pakistan, a US-designated terrorist called Mohammad Ehsan was sitting right beside the Field Marshal. There are photographs of him shaking hands with this field marshal," Owaisi said.
"There is clear evidence of Pakistan's involvement," he added. The AIMIM leader said that terror groups are prospering and being trained in Pakistan, and their aim is to destabilise India, to manufacture more Hindu-Muslim riots in the nation.
According to the specially designated nationals (SDN) list on the official website of the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), "Ahsan, Muhammad (aka Ehsan Muhammad, aka Ihsan Muhammad, aka Ullah Ehsan), Sialkot, Pakistan, Islamabad, born in 1970, alternatively in 1971, and again alternative year 1972, in Sialkot, is designated under the "Secondary sanctions risk, section 1(b) of Executive Order 13244, as amended by Executive Order 13886 (individual)." He is linked to the terrorist outfit 'Lashkar-e-Taiba'.
Meanwhile, Owaisi further backed his call to add Pakistan back to the FATF grey list and recalled that after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Indian investigators provided Islamabad with all the evidence, but still, they did not take any action.
"What made Pakistan move forward in this terrorist trial was when it was put on the FATF grey list," Owaisi said.
He further exposed Pakistan's lie about the Mumbai attacks' key accused, Sajid Mir.
"One meeting was held in Germany, and India wanted one Sajid Mir to be indicted, but Pakistan said he's dead... Pakistan came up to the Committee of FATF and said Sajid Mir is alive. Can you imagine the country which was saying he's dead, suddenly, he's alive?" Owaisi asked.
The AIMIM chief clarified and busted the rumour spread by the Pakistani government that Indian courts had allegedly convicted Mir for some 5-10 years, but the main culprits were still scot-free. "They were convicted for money laundering, not for terrorism," he added.
The AIMIM chief added that Indian investigating agencies had recorded conversations between the 26/11 attacker and their handlers in Pakistan, providing it to Islamabad as evidence.
"The Indian legal system followed all the due process of law, and Ajmal Kasab was sentenced to death, and he revealed many things. Our agencies were capable enough to record the audio conversations in which the terrorist group, sitting in Pakistan, were having with terrorists who were killing Indians in five-star hotels, and those conversations they were clearly told them not to lose heart, kill as many Indians as you can, and you'll go to Jannat. This was the conversation that was recorded," Owaisi stated.
He further recalled that after the 2016 attack on the Indian Air Force's Pathankot Airbase, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had gone to Pakistan uninvited and called on Islamabad to send its own team to India to get clear evidence and even then, nothing happened.
"Pathankot happened, after my Prime Minister went to Pakistan, uninvited, and I want to put it on record, I was the one who criticised him for going over there. Many opposition parties criticised why my Prime Minister went uninvited from Afghanistan to Nawaz Sharif's place. Our air base was attacked, and we lost many personnel over there," he said in Riyadh.
Owaisi added, 'The Prime Minister said Pakistan wants proof; you (Pakistan) send your own team. Can you imagine any country inviting a neighbouring country's spy agency? They were invited, they were given all the records, but nothing moved, nothing happened. If the question is - why don't we speak to Pakistan, who do we speak to in Pakistan?'
In addition to Owaisi, the Baijayant Panda-led delegation includes Nishikant Dubey (BJP), Phangnon Konyak (BJP), Rekha Sharma (BJP), Satnam Singh Sandhu, Ghulam Nabi Azad; and Ambassador Harsh Shringla.
These all-party delegation teams, the key part of India's global outreach program on Operation Sindoor, are tasked with briefing the nation's international country partners about New Delhi's stance on terrorism and its fight against the same.
Operation Sindoor was launched on May 7 by the Indian armed forces to carry out precision strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The forces had destroyed nine terror camps, and killed over 100 terrorists in Operation Sindoor.
This operation was launched as a response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists.