New Delhi, July 25: India on Thursday termed as”glaring admission” Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s commentsthat his country had 30,000 to 40,000 militants who fought in Kashmir andAfghanistan, and asked him to take “credible and irreversible” actionagainst the militant networks.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said itwas not the first time that Pakistan and its leadership owned up to thepresence of militants in that country who are sent to India to carry outattacks.
Addressing a think-tank in Washington on Tuesday, Khan saidabout 30,000 to 40,000 militants who had trained and fought in “some partof Afghanistan or Kashmir” were in his country.
“It is a glaring admission by the Pakistanileadership…. This is not the first time that Pakistan and Pakistanileadership owned up to the presence of terror training camps and terrorists inPakistan…. It is also in public knowledge and international community knowsabout it,” Kumar said.
He said as Khan acknowledged the presence of the trainingcamps in his country, “it is time for them to take credible andirreversible action against the camps.”
“They should make sure that the safe havens andsanctuaries in Pakistan should be neutralised. We feel that half-heartedmeasures to please the international community won’t do,” he added.
India and Afghanistan have been accusing Pakistan ofproviding safe haven to the Afghan Taliban, the Haqqani network,Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba and other militant groups.
Khan, who was on a three-day official visit to the US, alsoadmitted to American lawmakers that successive governments in Pakistan did nottell the truth to the United States, in particular in the last 15 years, thatthere were 40 different militant groups operating in his country.
“Until we came into power, the governments did not havethe political will, because when you talk about militant groups, we still haveabout 30,000-40,000 armed people who have been trained and fought in some partof Afghanistan or Kashmir,” Khan said at the US Institute of Peace.”We are the first government that hasstarted disarming militant groups. This is the first time it’s happening. We’vetaken over their institutes, their seminaries. We have administratorsthere,” said the leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party which formedits first federal government in August last year.