In his attempt to be overzealous as an exemplary statesman, Imran Khan may just have created the biggest blunder of his political history. In a striking admittance, Imran Khan on Tuesday stated that Pakistan currently harbours 30,000-40,000 terrorists in its territory, during his appearance at the US Institute of Peace, a US-Congress funded think-tank.
He stated, “Until we came into power, the governments did not have the political will, because when you talk about militant groups, we still have about 30,000-40,000 armed people who have been trained and fought in some part of Afghanistan or Kashmir.”
This was essentially aimed to please the US lawmakers and illustrate that the previous Pakistani governments did not tell the truth. Imran Khan has tried to create an impression that he has taken a pro-active stance against terrorism and identified the issue that needs to be addressed. He claimed that since the past 15 years, 40 different militant groups have been operating in the territory.
In order to further gain brownie points from the USA, he added, “We were fighting the US war on terror. Pakistan has nothing to do with 9/11 (attack). Al-Qaeda was in Afghanistan. There were no militant Taliban in Pakistan. But we joined the US war. Unfortunately, when things went wrong, where I blame my government, we did not tell the US exactly the truth on the ground.”
Attempting to incite sympathy from the US lawmakers to smoothen the process of acquiring economic gain for the terrorist country, Imran Khan said, “There were 40 different militant groups operating within Pakistan. So Pakistan went through a period where people like us were worried about could we survive it. So, while the US expected us to do more and help the US win the war (in Afghanistan), Pakistan at that time was fighting for its own existence.”
Immersed in the sycophantic statements, Imran Khan probably failed to understand that he was essentially cutting off his nose to spite his face. In order to desperately establish trust with the US government, not only did he put his country’s previous governments under fire for encouraging militancy, but has also put his own government on the line.
This admittance of his goes beyond international embarrassment, to which Pakistan by now is well accustomed to. Government sources in India have stated that this may become a serious issue for Islamabad with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). India is now considering making the remarks a part of its submission ahead of the next meeting in October of the international terror financing watchdog. Pakistan has been on FATF’s grey list since last year. Last month in June, after Pakistan had failed to fulfill the conditions set by FATF to curb terror, they have been granted an extension till October, failing which the country may be blacklisted. Due to the grey listing, Pakistan is already at risk of incurring a loss of $10 billion dollars annually and the further blacklisting would be drastic for the country. It would be extremely difficult for Pakistan to have economic dealings.
The debt-ridden country had gone to the US to establish economic ties. However, Imran Khan has made the situation worse, which wasn’t believed to be possible.
According to the government of India sources, as reported by The Hindu, the numbers given by Imran Khan were considerably higher than those submitted by Pakistan at the FATF. In Schedule-4 of Pakistan’s “Anti-Terrorism Act”, which details banned organisations, the government has listed only 8,000 active militants.
According to a source of The Hindu, “[Mr. Khan’s statement] has opened up the question of effectiveness in Pakistan’s much publicised compliance of the FATF Action Plan, and would allow countries like India to raise the issue at FATF.”
Imran Khan’s remarks are also in contrary to the Pakistan Army’s position on the existence of terror groups, as in April during the FATF pressure on the crackdown on religious extremist institutions, the Pakistan Army spokesperson had said there were “no terrorist organisations” in the country.
This incident, which is best described as a self-goal, is going to have major repercussions on Pakistan’s situation with the FATF. With his remark, Imran Khan has successfully moved the country a lot closer to the inevitable FATF blacklisting.