By News18
As the controversy over Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari鈥檚 remark on the extradition of Pakistani individuals continues to flare in Pakistan, now former Prime Minister Imran Khan鈥檚 party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has dubbed the country鈥檚 foreign minister a symbol of confusion.
According to a report with Dawn, PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram said Bilawal鈥檚 proposal was ill-advised and detrimental to Pakistan鈥檚 national security narrative.
He also said such statements humiliate the country on international platforms.
鈥淲e fail to understand why Bilawal is so keen on appeasing India,鈥 Akram said, per the report.
The PTI spokesperson also said that Bilawal was proving time and again that he lacked political wisdom, vision, and understanding of regional geopolitics.
鈥淏ilawal has become a symbol of confusion and contradiction in Pakistan鈥檚 foreign policy discourse,鈥 he said.
鈥淭he Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was founded by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on the legacy of Kashmir, but today, Bilawal is betraying that legacy by pursuing political gains at the expense of Kashmiri blood,鈥 he added.
Later, Pakistan Markazi Muslim League, a political offshoot of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)/ Jamaat ud Dawa (JuD), in a statement alleged India was involved in terrorism with Pakistan and that it (India) had been the mastermind of terror campaigns in Pakistan and other parts of the world, The Times Of India reported.
Earlier, Hafiz Saeed鈥檚 son Talha Saeed too had hit out at Bilawal Bhutto, saying he is not a trusted face when it comes to foreign policy.
鈥淏ilawal Bhutto is not a true Muslim; how can he offer my father like this?鈥 Talha Saeed said.
WHAT BILAWAL BHUTTO HAD SAID
During an interview with Al Jazeera, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Friday said that his country had no objection to extraditing 鈥渋ndividuals of concern鈥 to India as a confidence-building measure, as long as New Delhi showed willingness to cooperate in the process.
His remarks came as he responded to a question about extraditing LeT chief Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as possible concessions and good-faith gestures to India, Dawn newspaper reported.
鈥淎s part of a comprehensive dialogue with Pakistan, where terrorism is one of the issues that we discuss, I am sure Pakistan would not be opposed to any of these things,鈥 Bilawal said.
Both LeT and JeM have been banned by Pakistan, according to the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta), while Saeed, the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind, is currently serving a 33-year sentence for terror financing, and Azhar, a UN-designated global terrorist, has been proscribed by Nacta.
Bilawal said that cases prosecuted against these 鈥渋ndividuals鈥 were those related to Pakistan, such as terrorist financing. However, he noted that prosecuting them for cross-border terrorism was difficult due to what he claimed was 鈥渘oncompliance鈥 from Delhi.
鈥淚ndia is refusing to comply with certain basic elements that require that conviction to take place,鈥 he said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important to present evidence within these courts, for people to come over from India to testify, to put up with whatever the counter-accusations will be.鈥
鈥淚f India is willing to be cooperative in that process, I am sure there will be no hurdle in extraditing any individual of concern,鈥 Bilawal added.
He also expressed concern about India鈥檚 vow to pursue terrorists, calling it a 鈥渘ew abnormal鈥.
鈥淭his does not serve the interests of Pakistan, and it does not serve the interests of India,鈥 he added.
Pressed on the whereabouts of Saeed and Azhar, Bilawal stated that the former was incarcerated, while Islamabad believes the latter is in Afghanistan.
鈥淚t is factually not correct that Hafiz Saeed is a free man; he is in the custody of the Pakistani state,鈥 he maintained, stating that Islamabad has been unable to arrest Azhar.
鈥淚t is our belief that he is in Afghanistan,鈥 Bilawal stated.
鈥淚f and when the Indian government shares information that he is on Pakistani soil, we will be more than happy to arrest him,鈥 he said.
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