Pak Gen Z should focus on India’s demand to end state-sponsored cross-border terror: MEA

Last week, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry had declined to comment on the protests in India and said the demonstrations were an internal matter. “This is an internal matter of India. We do not offer comments on such matters,” Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi had said.

However, several Pakistani youth voiced their support for the Cockroach Janta Party-led protests through social media, posting messages of solidarity and drawing parallels between the shared histories of India and Pakistan.

During the media briefing, while responding to a question on Pakistan’s attempts to invoke the shared legacy of the Indus Valley Civilisation, Jaiswal said Islamabad’s record on terrorism and minority rights undermines such claims.

“Let me put this straight: a country which has been promoting cross-border terrorism, which has been promoting religious fundamentalism and violence for decades, cannot have any claim to any pluralistic cultural legacy. Their abysmal track record on the protection of minorities and their cultural rights makes such desperate attempts look even more phoney,” Jaiswal said.

Pakistan’s Information and Broadcasting Minister Attaullah Tarar had recently described the Indus Valley Civilization as central to Pakistan’s national identity, in the wake of India moving to put the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance following the terrorist attack in Pahalgam in April last year, killing 26 civilians.

India has repeatedly stated that Pakistan’s state-sponsored cross-border terrorism has eroded the basis for the treaty, and it cannot be viewed in isolation.