A minister in the newly elected Pakistan government was snapped with 26/11 attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed at an event in Islamabad on Sunday. This comes after India called Pakistan a nation which “glorifies killers” and allows them to “roam free” with impunity on its soil at last week’s United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Noor-Ul-Haq Qadri, the Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony under the Imran Khan-led government, addressed the All Parties Conference (APC) organised by the Difa-e-Pakistan Council on Sunday.
He shared the stage with Saeed, a UN-designated terrorist, who also campaigned for a political outfit in this year’s general assembly polls. The banner in the picture says the conference was for “the defence of Pakistan,” and mentions Kashmir and “India’s threats”.
The picture hollows the assurances given by Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi at the UNGA that his country has “turned the tide against terrorism”. Qureshi had said that Pakistan has fought the biggest battle against hardline terrorism by deploying 200,000 troupes in their counter-terror operations.
At UNGA, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had accused Pakistan of being an “expert in trying to mask malevolence with verbal duplicity”, and justified India’s decision to call off the meeting with her Pakistani counterpart.
“The killers of 9/11 met their fate, but the mastermind of 26/11 — Hafiz Saeed — still roams the streets of Pakistan with impunity,” she had said.
She had also defended India’s decision to call off talks with the hostile neighbour. Pakistan PM Imran Khan had tried to re-initiate talks with India and the latter had given its affirmation as well.
The foreign ministers of the two nations were expected to meet on the sidelines of the UNGA event but the news of mutilation of an Indian soldier by Pakistani Rangers at LoC prompted the Indian side to call off the talks. India also had reservations with Islamabad releasing postage stamps “glorifying” Kashmiri militant Burhan Wani.
