World divided on Pakistan and state-sponsored terrorism

AS UK joins the league of US and China of not condemning Pakistan, Russia still backs India

Days ahead of UK Prime Minister Theresa May's India visit, the country on Tuesday hailed Pakistan's "significant sacrifices" in combating terror while responding to a petition calling on the British government to "strongly condemn" Pakistan for providing a safe haven for terrorists, as reported earlier.

UK is not the first country to give a passive reply to this line of questioning. Other countries too have gone soft on Pakistan.

China defended Pakistan by saying that terrorism should not be linked to just one country or religion and the world must acknowledge the great sacrifice that Pakistan has made while combating terrorism. This statement from China was a reply to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Mothership of terrorism' jibe against Pakistan. 

 

US too sang on the same tune. State Department spokesperson John Kirby said that US does not support declaring Pakistan a terrorist state but said that necessary steps must be taken to tackle the situation. US has time and again reiterated that tension between India and Pakistan must not escalate. 

Contrary to the statements made by the world powers, India's long-standing ally Russia supported India and 'condemned' all form of terrorism. During the BRICS summit Russian President Vladimir Putin lauded the efforts of PM Modi in combating terror and backed the surgical strike.

Germany and Afghanistan supported India, saying that India has every right to defend itself, and surgical strike on Pakistan by India was justified. 

“There is a clear international norm that every state has the right to defend its territory from international terrorism,” German ambassador to India Martin Ney said.

Afghanistan said during tough times, harsh decisions have to be taken. Afghanistan’s Ambassador to India Shaida Abdali said, “if terrorist groups continue to exist without action, no wonder self-defence against such terrorist groups will be in the form of action that we saw.”