Pakistani generals use terrorism as a proxy to stay relevant: Ravi Shankar Prasad

India Gazette

2 days ago

New Delhi [India], June 10 (ANI): BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad, who recently led an all-party delegation on a multi-national tour, said on Tuesday that the delegation had conveyed to global leaders India's firm policy of zero tolerance against cross-border terrorism.
He said the delegation told foreign counterparts that Pakistan remains gripped by a 'military-terrorist nexus,' where the country's generals use terrorism as a proxy to maintain their relevance.
'Pakistan is not only a state in denial, but the military-terrorist nexus has become a deadly combination,' the BJP MP told reporters. 'When we talked about history, we talked about how Pakistan is in the hands of Generals... The world needs to understand that Pakistan is in the grip of a military-general nexus whose dirty job is done by the terrorists and terrorist camps. In Pakistan's new setup, the Generals use terrorism as a proxy to keep themselves relevant.'
Speaking about interactions with foreign officials, he said the delegation shared the historical context of India-Pakistan relations, underscoring how India has repeatedly sought peaceful ties, while Pakistan has continued to sponsor terrorism.
He emphasised that India has never been the aggressor in any conflict.
'We put forward the history between India and Pakistan. We were born on the same day, Pakistan on August 15 and August 14 us. We are the fourth largest economy and on the way to be the third largest, and they (Pakistan) are begging for funds,' he said. 'We have fought conventional wars (with Pakistan), but we were never the aggressors. We made it clear that we are not against the people of Pakistan.'
Citing past terror incidents, including the 2016 Uri attack and the 2019 Pulwama attack, Prasad said all Indian governments have made genuine attempts at fostering good relations with Pakistan.
'We told that all governments in India have tried to have good relations with Pakistan. PM Modi called Nawaz Sharif (former Pakistan PM), went to his grandson's wedding too and then Uri (attack) happened and we gave a befitting reply, then similarly with Pulwama, and now this (Pahalgam),' he said.
He also spoke about the enthusiastic reception from the Indian diaspora during the delegation's overseas engagements. He also encountered Pakistan supporters in Copenhagen, sarcastically suggesting that some of the funding from the recent IMF loan to Pakistan might have been used to fund protesters against the delegation.
'There were around 400 people (to listen to us) in Copenhagen, and there were some Pakistanis protesting too. Modi ji is common, but they also used my name to say things about it. I had said that our delegation has been successful and met with officials in 3 countries already, there would have been questions from Islamabad, and they got the IMF loan too, so they could have funded a bit here, as after 10 minutes they went away and were not seen again,' he said.
The delegation, led by BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad, also included BJP MPs Daggubati Purandeswari, MJ Akbar, Gulam Ali Khatana, and Samik Bhattacharya; Congress MP Amar Singh, Priyanka Chaturvedi from Shiv Sena (UBT,) AIADMK MP M Thambidurai and former diplomat Pankaj Saran.
The group visited the UK, France, Germany, Brussels (Belgium), Italy and Denmark to explain India's position against terror and brief countries about Operation Sindoor.
The operation was launched on May 7 in response to the April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam by Pakistan-sponsored militants that claimed 26 lives and injured several others.
Following retaliation from Pakistan, the Indian Armed Forces carried out targeted strikes against terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, resulting in the deaths of over 100 terrorists linked to groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen. (ANI)