Pakistan Too to Send Delegations to World Capitals to Counter India’s Narrative on Supporting Terrorism

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, May 18: Within days of India deciding to send all-party delegations to key partner countries to expose Pakistan’s terror infrastructure, Pakistan has decided to send a similar diplomatic team to important world capitals to counter India’s narrative and present his country’s stance.

The decision was taken by the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif after a telephone conversation with former Foreign Minister and head of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, according to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

Pakistan’s decision to send its delegation came hours after India announced that it would send seven all-party delegations to key partner countries, including members of the UN Security Council, later this month, to convey India’s message of zero tolerance against terrorism following “Operation Sindoor” in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack.

Mr Shehbaz “decided to send a high-level diplomatic delegation to important world capitals to expose Indian propaganda,” the state-run Radio Pakistan reported. He has entrusted the leadership of the delegation to Mr Bhutto Zardari.

“I was contacted earlier today by Prime Minister [Shehbaz Sharif], who requested that I lead a delegation to present Pakistan’s case for peace on the international stage. I am honoured to accept this responsibility and remain committed to serving Pakistan in these challenging times,” Mr Bhutto Zardari posted on social media platform X.

Apart from Mr Bhutto Zardari, the delegation will include Energy Minister Musadik Malik, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Khurram Dastgir Khan, Senator Sherry Rehman, former Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Muttahida Qaumi Movement lawmaker Faisal Subzwari, and former Foreign Secretaries Tehmina Janjua and Jalil Abbas Jilani. The delegation will also “underscore Pakistan’s sincere efforts for peace and stability in the region,” according to the PMO.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said the delegation would soon visit the United States, the U.K., Brussels, France, and Russia to highlight Pakistan’s stance on the recent conflict. India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.

Meanwhile, in the backdrop of repeated assertions by Pakistan that the understanding to “stop all firing and military action on land, in the air and sea” ends on May 18, the Indian Army on Sunday said there was “no expiry date” to it. “No Director General of Military Operations [DGMO] talks are scheduled today. As far as continuation of break in hostilities, as decided in DGMOs’ interaction of May 12, there is no expiry date to it,” the Army said in a statement.

On May 15, the Army said both sides agreed to continue the stoppage of all firing that came into effect from 5 p.m. on May 10 and continue the “confidence building measures” to reduce the alertness level, without clarifying if the two DGMOs spoke that day. It is also not clear as to what the confidence building measures are. This came after Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar informed Parliament that they had “military-to-military communications” on last Wednesday and Thursday and the ceasefire was till May 18.

Following the military confrontation over four days following India’s precision strikes on nine terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on the night of May 6-7, the two DGMOs on May 10 spoke on the hotline at 3.35 p.m., a call initiated by the Pakistani side, and an understanding was reached to “stop all firing and military action on land, in the air and sea” that came into effect from 5 p.m. on May 10 and it was agreed that they would speak again on May 12. During the call at 5 p.m. on May 12, the two DGMOs agreed to continue the commitment and also agreed that both sides “consider immediate measures to ensure troop reduction” from the borders and forward areas.

The Indian authorities are also planning to apprise the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) of the latest evidence related to the terror bases in Pakistan that were destroyed by the defence forces during the precision attacks as part of “Operation Sindoor.”

“Although the decision making in the FATF is based on technical compliance of its anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) recommendations, which is evaluated through the measures taken by the country concerned and on-ground verification, the gruesome killings in Pahalgam have necessitated the sharing of information about the existing terror infrastructure in Pakistan with the international watchdog,” said a government official.

In the coming days, the official said, India was expected to highlight, at all the international forums, the latest evidence about the patronage being given by the Pakistani State machinery to banned terrorist organisations. The FATF Plenary had removed Pakistan from the Grey List in October 2022, albeit with the reminder that Pakistan will continue to work with the Asia Pacific Group (APG) to further improve its AML/CFT system.

The last time the FATF had placed Pakistan on its Grey List was in June 2018. It found several strategic deficiencies with respect to the AML and CFT recommendations. Pakistan was told to implement the action plan, which included demonstration of effective action against United Nations-designated terror outfits, individuals and their associates in terms of financial sanctions, asset seizures, investigation, prosecution, and convictions.

However, owing to its failure to implement all the action points fully, Pakistan was again retained on the Grey List on October 21, 2021. The FATF Plenary noted that it had completed 26 of the 27 action items in its 2018 plan. The one remaining issue was about continuing to demonstrate that the terror financing investigations and prosecutions targeted senior functionaries and commanders of UN-designated terror outfits.

Earlier, in response to the additional deficiencies flagged in Pakistan’s 2019 APG Mutual Evaluation Report in June 2021, it had given further commitment to address them. Pakistan was put on the Grey List for the first time in 2008, then removed in 2009, and again it was brought under increased monitoring from 2012 to 2015. Greylisting by the FATF is said to limit a country’s access to international loans.