London/Islamabad: Pakistan has a past with extremist groups and suffered because of this, Pakistan Peoples Party chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said while answering a question on Islamabad backing terror outfits.
Bhutto-Zardari was asked in an interview with Sky News on Thursday whether he agreed with Defence Minister Khwaja Asif’s controversial remark last week. Questioned if Pakistan has been supporting, training and funding terrorists, the minister had then said his country did the West’s “dirty work” for decades.
The Pakistan Peoples Party leader’s remarks come amid heightened tension between India and Pakistan after terrorists killed 26 people, mostly tourists, in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22.
Answering the question if he agreed with Asif’s claim, Bhutto-Zardari said, “I don’t think that it’s a secret that Pakistan has a past as far as extremist groups are concerned. And as a result of this, we have suffered. Pakistan has suffered. We’ve gone through wave after wave of extremism.
“We went through the Islamisation and militarisation of our society. But as a result of what we suffered, we also learnt our lessons. We’ve gone through internal reforms in order to address this problem, not only for us, but also the concern of the international community,” Bhutto-Zardari, the former foreign minister, said.
Recalling that his mother, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was killed in a terror attack, the leader of the PPP, which is part of the ruling coalition at the federal level, said, “As far as Pakistan’s history is concerned, it is history. … It is true that it’s part, it is an unfortunate part of our history.”
“We’re not alone in this history,” he said and went on to describe how and what Pakistan did “in coordination and collaboration with Western powers” and how Pakistan “worked together with the United States and the international community to combat these terrorist groups.”
The leader was reminded about his earlier remarks ‘either the water flows or their blood flows’ after India announced suspension of the Indus Water Treaty. He said India has unilaterally and illegally announced its exit from the Treaty but said, “It is certainly not my intent … nor my statement was… certainly not advocating for bloodshed.”
“But as the Government of Pakistan had stated in their reaction to this decision, that it would be considered an act of war. And as you’re well aware, when war happens, happens, blood does flow. We do not want war. We seek peace. We’ve been seeking to engage with India for some time,” he added.
The Indus Water Treaty is a key accord signed in 1960 that decided the use of waters of six rivers in the Indus basin between India and Pakistan.
A day after the Pahalgam attack, India announced a raft of punitive measures against Pakistan in view of cross-border links to the massacre.
Prime Minister Modi on April 29 told India’s top defence brass that the armed forces have “complete operational freedom” to decide on the mode, targets and timing of India’s response to the Pahalgam attack.
On Wednesday, India also closed its airspace for flights operated by Pakistani airlines.
