‘Did dirty work for US for 3 decades’: Pakistan minister admits to funding terrorism after Pahalgam attack

Pahalgam Terror Attack: Pakistan's defence minister Khawaja Asif has admitted in a recent interview that Pakistan as a country has been ‘supporting, backing and funding’ terrorism for three decades. Asif went on to say that it was a mistake that the country was suffering from.

“Well, we have been doing this dirty work for the United States for about three decades, and West, including Britain,” Asif is heard telling British news channel Sky News after anchor Yalda Hakim asked him about Pakistan has a long history of backing, funding and supporting terrorist organisations.

Asif's remarks came amid escalating tensions and Pakistan's downgraded diplomatic relations with India after the worst-ever terror attack on civilians in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam that killed 26, mostly tourists, earlier this week.

The anchor responds, so, that is your argument and the minister responds, “...that was a mistake and we suffer for that. And that is why you are asking it to me.”

Tourists were attacked in Kashmir earlier, too, but not in such big numbers.

The Pakistan defence minister went on to say that if Pakistan “had not joined US war against the Soviet Union and later on after 9/11, Pakistan had an unimpeachable track record.”

In the same interview, Asif told British news channel Sky News that the worsening ties between the two neighbouring nations post the Pahalgam terror attack might lead to an all-out India-Pakistan war.

Who carried out the Pahalgam attack?

The Pahalgam terrorist attack was carried out in the fabled Baisaran meadow of Pahalgam on April 22, a day when United States Vice President JD Vance was in India and Prime Minister Narendra Modiwas on a state visit to Saudi Arabia.

India responded by deciding to shut the Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Attari in Amritsar along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab immediately. India also decided to suspend the Indus water treaty until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism.

The decisions to downgrade diplomatic ties with Pakistan in view of cross-border links to the Pahalgam terrorist attack were taken in the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 23.

Pakistan responded with countermeasures as the militaries of both countries remain on high alert with widespread reports suggesting a possibility of punitive strikes by India in response toApril 22 Pahalgam terror attack.

The Resistance Front(TRF), an offshoot of Pakistan-basedLashkar-e-Taiba, is believed to be behind Tuesday's attack, a claim that Mint has not been able to verify. Some reports even suggested that a top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander, Saifullah Kasuri, alias Khalid, is believed to be the ‘mastermind’ of the attack. There has not been any official word on these claims yet.

Islamabad has, however, said it ‘rejects’ India's decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty after the Pahalgam terror attack, adding that it's the lifeline for 240 million Pakistanis.