If ISI and RAW Join Hands, Terrorism May Plummet Drastically: Bilawal
Bilawal condemns India's May 7 intrusions into Pakistan as violations of the UN Charter and international law.
WASHINGTON: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has stated that if Pakistan's ISI and India's RAW joined hands, terrorism could be significantly curbed in both countries. The leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) stated this at a press conference at the UN Headquarters in New York on Tuesday.
He highlighted the fact that, in terms of numbers, Pakistan has a greater incidence of terrorist attacks than India. "Above the cycle of recriminations and suspicion, the best way to address the issue would be if Pakistan and India were to come together against terrorism," he said.
"Pakistan has been a committed ally in the anti-terrorism struggle. We have endured losses and gained expertise through our battles with extremists. We have learned from our experiences; now it’s time for the world to learn from theirs," he continued.
Pakistan has played a defensive role throughout, never engaging in aggression against India. When Indian planes crossed into Pakistan, our forces countered with precision. The PAF targeted and shot down six aircraft, assuming that they were hostile.
At the helm of a top parliamentary delegation, Bilawal condemned India's illegal May 7 attacks within Pakistan as a violation of global norms. He said the attacks targeted civilian infrastructure, religious centers, dams, and utility installations, and caused fatalities among non-combatants, including women and children.
Pakistan is willing to cooperate with India in the war against terrorism. We cannot let extremists and non-state actors determine the destiny of 1.5 to 1.7 billion people, driving two nuclear powers to war. This is the risky precedent India wants to establish," he maintained.
He noted it was interesting that it took India weeks to admit losing six of its planes, comparing this to Pakistan's openness to its people and the rest of the world.
Bilawal said, "Pakistan stands ready to resolve all matters in an open manner—terrorism, Kashmir, water conflicts—let's seek peace. We invite scrutiny, even in the absence of a legal mandate, because we are confident of our integrity."
He blamed India for avoiding negotiations, investigations, and ignoring international law and the UN Charter. "If these principles don't hold India to account, do they hold anybody to account? Those who believe in these laws have to make everyone, including India, obey them—on Kashmir, terror, or the Indus Water Treaty."
Looking back at the escalation since 2019, he cautioned that the region is in an even more unstable situation today, where another war appears imminent unless something is done.
Bilawal connected India's May 7 attacks to the April 22 Pahalgam attack in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) as a pretext for aggression. "We lament the victims of terrorism and have always been against all extremism in any form," he further added.
Following the Pahalgam attack, PM Shehbaz Sharif offered an unbiased international investigation, sure of Pakistan's non-involvement. India rejected the proposition and initiated attacks, prompting Pakistan's retaliatory measures—shooting down the invading planes.
Welcoming the ceasefire but warning that the danger of nuclear-armed adversaries breaking into war remains, Bilawal declared: "The risk of conflict has grown, not decreased." Only through ongoing diplomacy was permanent peace possible, he urged.
He condemned India for adopting the model of Israel's arrogance towards international law and UN norms and acting with unbridled haughtiness.
Bilawal cautioned that any act of terrorism in India or IIOJK is today equivalent to war against Pakistan, and vice versa, an attack in Pakistan—seeing purported Indian connections with Balochistan and KP unrest—would lead to war with India. "This is unsustainable. Nuclear powers cannot lack conflict-resolution mechanisms," he emphasized.
Apart from counter-terrorism discussions, Bilawal called for the establishment of a bilateral system for resolving disputes. He linked terrorism in IIOJK to the pending Kashmir dispute at the UN Security Council.
"The promises made to Kashmiris by the international community and India continue to be unfulfilled," he regretted.
If not resolved, Kashmir will continue to feed tensions between India and Pakistan, giving grievances deeper roots, Bilawal concluded.
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