LONDON: Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry has said that Pakistan’s civilian and military leadership are on the same page “after a long time” and operation against Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) was started under a joint strategy of all institutions.
The information minister was speaking at the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS). Rahul Roy-Chaudhry of the IISS chaired the event.
Chaudhry claimed that Imran Khan’s rise and PTI’s emergence as the third party showed that Pakistan’s middle classes were happy with the country going ahead and the way all institutions acted in unison against the “militant” TLP showed a unique proposition of institutions coming together against the threat of militancy.
“All institutions are giving us full support,” he said.
The minister said that extremism was not only confined to Pakistan, rather countries such as Germany, France and UK grappled with this issue. He said that some groups from UK sent money to militant groups in Pakistan.
Chaudhry said it was unfortunate that Pakistan was being seen in the West with the lense of 'Af-Pak', instead of Pakistan on its own as a vibrant, democratic nation. “We are a modern country. Our culture is one of the richest in the world. We are one of the most modern Muslim countries; no other Muslim country can come close to us,” he said.
The minister said that Imran khan is a revolution of the Pakistani middle class. “The primary slogan of Imran Khan remains transparency and good governance. That slogan became so popular that a third party was born in a country where two-party system was entrenched and where emergence of third party is not easy but PTI defeated two powerful parties. Our main accomplishment is with our performance, rest of the two parties are not in the game anymore. We will bring everyone under the law, most powerful people have been sent behind the bar.”
He also said that it was in India’s interest to develop friendship with Pakistan.
Answering a question, Chaudhry said that the whole foreign policy paradigm needs to be changed. He said that for the opening of the Kartarpur border, PTI government was able to take such a big decision with “full cooperation from Pakistan Army.”
He added: “It's due to this cooperation that we have been able to take such a big decision.”
The minister said they believed that India and Pakistan needed to come together to fight poverty and for stability in South Asia, but this was only possible through a dialogue. He hoped that the Indian government will revisit its approach once elections are over across the border.
Chaudhry, however, maintained that Kashmir remained the core issue and Pakistan would not budge from its position.
He claimed that Imran Khan was “the best bet to achieve peace in Afghanistan because he understands Afghan culture and PTI rules in KP.”
Responding to another question, the minister claimed that Pakistan had the “freest media in the world”, adding that there were no curbs on media.
Linking the issue of missing persons with the war-like situation Pakistan had been facing, he said the number of these missing individuals had reduced.
“Imran Khan has spoken categorically on this issue,” Chaudhry added.
Speaking to Pakistani newsmen after the event, the minister accepted that bringing money from abroad would be “difficult.”
Asked by this correspondent if he could give a timeline as to when the money will be returned to Pakistan as promised by his government, he said it's difficult to bring back the money that had left the country, but said the PM’s advisor on accountability Shahzad Akbar was doing his best and talking to different countries.
Chaudhry said that if 10-15 people within Pakistan are caught “then the whole amount will be caught”, but he didn’t explain who these 10-15 people were.