NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, JAN 16
In a sharp attack reference to neighbouring Pakistan, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat said that terrorism will not end till the time there are countries which provide funding to it.
“The future of terrorism is going to be as dirty as conventional combat. Terrorism is here to stay, so long as there are states that are sponsoring it,” General Rawat said at Raisina Dialogue here on Thursday.
War on terror will continue, and we will have to live with it until we get to the root of it, he added, saying that the best remedy to put an end to it is isolation.
“We need to isolate terrorism – you cannot have countries which are partnering with you in the global war on terror with you and are yet sponsoring proxies and terrorism. For this, an international messaging has to go – like blacklisting in Financial Action Task Force (FATF) – it was a good measure,” General Rawat said.
“This is not for Pakistan, but for all the countries which are doing this,” he added. General Rawat also said that the countries need to accept that yes, they are sponsors of terrorism. “To say that they are not denying it, and that they themselves are the victims of terrorism cannot go on forever.”
He also advocated a peace deal with the Taliban. “You have to come to a peace deal with anyone, including Taliban. They (Taliban) need to understand that have to come to political mainstream,” General Rawat said, adding that these negotiations should be for lasting peace and not temporary.
“They were in power last time, but they had the power of the gun behind them,” he added. “You have to change the ideology behind the Taliban. Only then can you bring peace in the region,” General Rawat said.
Pakistan is under diplomatic pressure to show progress on combating the menace of terrorism. The Financial Action Task Force, an inter-governmental organisation formed to check financial aid to terrorism, has asked Pakistan to show progress report on this front.
Pakistan’s Parliament narrowly passed a bill earlier thing month to allow the exchange of information and of criminals with countries – to meet a key requirement of the FATF. It approved amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Act and the Foreign Exchange Regulations Act, General Rawat added.
