Pak leadership promoting terrorism, says European think thank

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Media reports in this past week have claimed that the US has held up the acceptance of the Pakistani Ambassador-designate to the US, Masood Khan, over his sympathy for terrorist leaders and organizations.

Masood Khan’s nomination was sent to Washington by Pakistan Foreign Office in November last year. Media reports say the US deliberately delayed the approval of Pakistan’s ambassador-designate’s posting in Washington and sought more time for his approval.

A European think thank in its commentary said for far too long, the Pakistani leadership and officialdom have been allowed to get away with brazenly promoting terrorists and terrorism targeting both Afghanistan and J&K.

“In J&K, the deceptive moral and diplomatic support that Pakistan claims to be extending has proved mainly to be convenient terminology for pushing a violent terrorist narrative. It is about time that anyone who speaks in favour of terrorism, even if it is an official immaculately suited and booted in western attire and suavely speaking a western language, is made to face the consequences,” said Netherlands based think tank European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS).

Earlier this week, a US Congressman raised grave concern about the appointment of Masood Khan as Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States.

In a letter to US President Joe Biden, Congressman Scott Perry had asked Biden to reject Masood’s appointment, stating that Imran Khan’s nomination of a bona fide “terrorist sympathiser” Congressman Perry added that Masood Khan can only be described as a “breathtaking lack of judgment at best,” and “a demonstration of Islamabad’s unmitigated contempt for the United States at worst.”

“While I am encouraged that the State Department has reportedly placed a pause on approving Masood Khan as the new Ambassador from Pakistan, a pause is not enough. I urge you to reject any diplomatic credentials presented to you by Masood Khan and reject any effort by the Government of Pakistan to install this jihadist as Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States,” Scott Perry said in his letter to Biden.

Perry said that Masood Khan is a supporter of the terrorist groups Jamaat-e-Islami, as well as Helping Hand for Relief and Development, a group that had no qualms establishing a partnership with the foreign terrorist organisation responsible for the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

A US-based think tank also urged Biden to reject Pakistan’s appointment of the ‘Jihadi-terrorist-sympathizer’, Masood Khan, as Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States.

Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS), in its press release, said that the diplomatic role of Masood Khan in the United States may open an avenue for access for terrorist organisations to US institutions. (ANI)