India’s Hindutva expansionist designs ‘dangerous’ for global peace: PM Kakar

NEW YORK: Caretaker Prime Minister (PM) Anwaarul Haq Kakar on Friday said the Indian government’s Hindutva expansionist designs were ‘extremely dangerous’ for regional and global peace and security, ARY News reported.

The prime minister made these remarks while referring to the murder of a separatist Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil.

Canada had said it was “actively pursuing credible allegations” linking Indian government agents to the murder of the Sikh separatist leader.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in an emergency statement to the House of Commons that any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen was “an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty”.

Ottawa also expelled India’s top intelligence agent and accused it of a role in the murder of a Sikh separatist leader.

Following the expulsion, India said it had expelled a Canadian diplomat with five days’ notice to leave the country.

Read More: Hardeep Singh Nijjar: Who was the Sikh leader murdered in Canada?

Meanwhile, New Delhi also dismissed the Canadian accusation as “absurd and motivated” and urged it instead to take legal action against anti-Indian elements operating from its soil.

Responding to the question today, PM Kakar said that Pakistan had been directly affected by the Indian designs for a long time but the recent wave of Hindutva had alarmed the Western capitals as well.

He said Pakistan would keep on highlighting such a big issue and it also had presented this issue to the United Nations General Secretary concerning the Indian designs and its targeted killing in Canada.

He said the capturing of Indian spy Kulbhushan Yadav in the Balochistan area was clear proof of Indian direct intervention in Pakistan.

Speaking of the rising terror activities, the caretaker prime minister said Pakistan had enough capability to tackle the challenge of terrorism.

“We are proud of our military that has developed the capability of eliminating terrorism,” he said adding Pakistan was in close coordination with the regional countries including Afghanistan in this regard.

He said the whole region was deeply concerned and worried about the resurgence of terrorism.

Responding to a question regarding relations with China, the prime minister said Pakistan was a sovereign and independent country as “we have enjoyed deep-rooted and all-weather friendship with China and it will remain intact in future”.

“If anybody thinks that we will develop relations with any country at China’s cost, he or she cannot understand the legitimate interest of Pakistan concerning China,” he added.

PM Kakar further said that Pakistan had also friendly relations with the US and other Western countries in diverse fields. A huge number of influential Pakistani community is living in the US which is playing a key role in furthering bilateral relations.

Speaking about his recent meeting with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Chief, PM Kakar said that the IMF chief expressed her pleasure over knowing about the Pakistan government’s strict actions against the smugglers and currency hoarders in the country.

He highlighted that the IMF only wanted the country’s economic situation should get better and they desired to get assurance that the fund it was giving to the country was in safe hands.

The prime minister informed that the Pakistan government’s economic revival plan included tax reforms, enhancement of the tax net, measures to increase revenue generation, smooth running of the privatization process, and reforms in the power sector. He said all the multilateral financial institutions had expressed satisfaction with Pakistan’s economic revival plan.

He expressed the hope that due to the government’s crackdown on the electricity theft, utility bills would gradually reduce in the coming days.

He said power sector reforms were extremely necessary as without them, the overall economic structure could not be improved.

Concerning the pledges made in last year’s donor conference held in Geneva for reconstruction and rehabilitation of the flood-affected areas of Pakistan, PM Kakar said pledges of almost $10 billion were made by various countries and financial institutions. He called upon the international community to fulfill the pledges as soon as possible so that the projects of reconstruction in the flood-affected area could be materialized.

Replying to a question regarding the general elections in Pakistan, the prime minister said the caretaker government’s key responsibility was to facilitate the Election Commission of Pakistan to ensure smooth, free, and fair elections.