[ad_1]

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri speaks during a special briefing on Operation Sindoor, amid the ongoing India-Pakistan military conflict, in New Delhi
| Photo Credit:
PTI
India on Friday underlined the significance of air strikes at Bahawalpur, pointing out that it was an international terrorist training and indoctrination site where Wall Street Journal journalist, Daniel Pearl, was killed.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), based out of Bahawalpur, was in some way “directly or indirectly responsible” for the death of the journalist.
“But the real connection is through Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the British Pakistani jihadi who was held in India but was finally released in 2000. And he was the one who lured Daniel Pearl to his eventual murder. So these are all connected figures, connected individuals, connected institutions. The attack on Bahawalpur, on that facility of JeM in Bahawalpur, is, I would say, a fitting part of this unfortunate incident,” he said during a media interaction.
One of the nine terror infrastructure targets destroyed in Operation Sindoor, in the early hours of May 7, included Bahawalpur, long known to be a JeM stronghold, with the terror outfit having its indoctrination centre, training camps, and other facilities located there. The terrorist organisation is led by Masood Azhar, who is internationally proscribed.
“Internationally proscribed” refers to organisations, groups, or individuals that are recognised as terrorists or harmful by multiple countries or international organisations. This designation typically involves legal measures to prevent their activity and financial support, effectively cutting off their operations and weakening their ability to carry out harmful actions.
Daniel Pearl was the South Asia bureau Chief for the Wall Street Journal, was abducted in Karachi while investigating terrorist links there. Days later, a video emerged showing his beheading. Despite the global outcry, not much action was taken.
Global Outreach
According to Misri, India will put forward its point of view in front of the IMF, as the international agency discusses on a bailout package for India’s nuclear-armed neighbour.
“We will present our view there and it is for the Board to decide on how to take it forward,” he said.
Earlier, on Thursday, the Foreign Secretary had said, the country’s Executive Director at IMF “will put forward India’s position”. IMF, he said, had “look deep within themselves”.
“But, I think the case with regard to Pakistan should be self-evident to those people who generously open their pockets to bail out this country….on how many IMF bailout programs have been sanctioned in the space of the last three decades. And I think you would also have an idea of how many of those programs have reached a successful conclusion. Probably not many. So I think this is a decision that board members have to take by looking deep within themselves, and looking at the facts,” he had said. Services Suspended.
Indus Water Treaty continues to be in abeyance.
Misri also said, the Kartarpur Corridor has been shut indefinitely in view of Pakistan’s indiscriminate firing across the Line of Control (LoC). “In view of the existing security scenario, the services of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor have been suspended till further directions.”
Published on May 9, 2025
[ad_2]
Source link