New Delhi: Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party and former foreign minister, has said that cooperation between Pakistan and India’s intelligence agencies can go a long way in significantly curbing terrorism across South Asia.
As per Dawn newspaper, the PPP chairman, currently leading a high-level delegation to the US as part of a global diplomatic effort to garner support after Pakistan’s recent confrontation with India, made the comments during a press conference at the UN headquarters on Tuesday.
Bilawal Bhutto was quoted as saying by the newspaper on Wednesday: “I am completely confident that if ISI and RAW were ready to sit down and work together to fight these forces, we would see a significant decrease in terrorism in both India and Pakistan.”
Bilawal Bhutto’s remarks come as an all-party delegation led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor arrives in Washington, D.C., for a two-day dialogue and interaction with members of the US Congress, administration officials, think tanks, media, and key policymakers. The Indian delegation will brief key stakeholders in the US on Operation Sindoor and explain New Delhi’s stance on terrorism.
At the press conference, Bilawal Bhutto also requested the global community to keep its engagement in South Asia. He also warned that the risk of conflict between nuclear-armed neighbours had escalated, not diminished, after the recent ceasefire.
Bilawal Bhutto said: “With the intervention of the international community — and I would like to mention particularly the role played by the US President Donald Trump and his team led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio — we did manage to achieve a ceasefire between India and Pakistan. This is a welcome first step, but it’s only a first step.”
‘Diplomacy and dialogue viable path to peace’
He underscored the need for diplomacy and dialogue, which were the only “viable path to peace”. Bilawal Bhutto stressed Pakistan’s willingness to engage in a broad dialogue with India — including cooperation on counterterrorism.
PPP chief said: “Pakistan would still like to cooperate with India to combat terrorism. We can’t leave the fate of 1.5 billion, 1.7 billion people in the hands of non-state actors and terrorists… For them to decide, at a whim, that (when these) two nuclear-armed powers will go to war.”
Meanwhile, Tharoor is leading the delegation to US. It comprises Sarfaraz Ahmad (JMM), Ganti Harish Madhur Balayogi (TDP), Shashank Mani Tripathi (BJP), Bhubaneswar Kalita (BJP), Milind Deora (Shiv Sena), Tejasvi Surya (BJP) and India’s former Ambassador to the US Taranjit Sandhu. The delegation will convey India’s fight against terrorism and expose Pakistan’s links to terrorism.
On Wednesday, as the Indian delegation starts its engagements in Washington, the parliamentary delegation from Pakistan led by Bilawal Bhutto is also set to arrive in Washington, DC, according to PTI. The delegation includes former foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar, former information minister Sherry Rehman, former defence minister Khurram Dastgir Khan and former foreign secretaries Jalil Abbas Jilani and Tehmina Janjua. The members will meet US government representatives and lawmakers.
