Defence Minister Rajnath Singh offered a stark warning Friday about the Pakistan government’s plans to “spend tax collected from its citizens… to give Rs 14 crore to Masood Azhar“, designated an ‘international terrorist’ by the United Nations and head of the banned Jaish-e-Mohammed group that was behind the 2019 Pulwama and 2016 Uri attacks.
Mr Singh prefaced that cautionary note by saying Pak had begun rebuilding terrorist infrastructure destroyed by India during Operation Sindoor – New Delhi’s military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack by another Pak-based terror group, the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
This rebuilding, the Defence Minister claimed, would be funded by the Pak government by diverting the $2.1 billion it is to get from the International Monetary Fund as aid money.
“Pak will spend tax collected from citizens to give Rs 14 crore to Masood Azhar, the head of the Jaish terrorist organisation, even though he is a UN-designated terrorist. The Pak government has also said it will give financial assistance to rebuild terror infrastructure of Lashkar and Jaish, in Muridke and Bahawalpur,” Mr Singh told soldiers at a military base in Gujarat’s Bhuj.
The Defence Minister’s sharp comments come amid red flags raised by India over IMF bailouts to the Pakistan government, accused of sponsoring terrorist activity targeting India.
READ | “Indirect Terror Funding”: Rajnath Singh Cautions IMF Over Pak Aid
“The IMF’s aid to Pak is form of indirect funding to terror,” Mr Singh said today, “Any financial assistance to Pakistan is funding terror activities. The IMF should reconsider its decision.”
Last week India opposed the IMF’s proposal to extend fresh loans – worth a $2.3 billion to Pak – warning the funds could be misused for financing state-sponsored cross-border terrorism.
READ | Despite India’s “Terror Funding” Protest, IMF’s $1 Billion Pak Bailout
Delhi abstained from voting on the proposal, but it was passed anyway.
Pak’s ‘Terror Funder’ Status
In 2018 Pak was put on a ‘grey list’ of the Financial Action Task Force, or FATF, a global watchdog for financing terrorism and money laundering. In 2022 it was removed from that list.
FATF said the Pak government had reasonably strengthened its anti-money laundering setup and worked on combating terror financing, besides addressing technical deficiencies.
Being on the ‘grey list’ meant Pak struggled to get aid from financial institutions like the IMF.
ARCHIVES | Pak Taken Off Global Watchdog’s ‘Grey’ List For Terror Financing
India, one of the 40 FATF members, had strenuously objected to Pak’s removal from the ‘grey list’, saying Islamabad continues to harbour terrorists and funds their organisations.
This issue has also been flagged in other international forums, like the United Nations and the UN Security Council. The latter had tough questions for Pak after the Pahalgam attack.
India Strikes Pak Terror Camps
Muridke and Bahawalpur were among the nine terror camps India targeted in Op Sindoor.
The former, located 40km north of Lahore, was where the Lashkar group had its HQ and a key training camp, while the latter, in Pak’s Punjab province, was the Jaish group’s headquarters.
NDTV Explains | Significance Of India’s Strike On Muridke In Pakistan
The Muridke facility, Indian intel had said, was spread over 200 acres and consisted of training areas, indoctrination centres, and logistical support infrastructure. Both were key targets.
Before-and-after image of Markaz Taiba in Muridke, a Lashkar training centre.
The strike on Muridke was hailed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a direct attack on the “terror nursery of Pakistan”, while that on Bahawalpur killed 10 members of Masood Azhar’s family, including his sister and her husband, and his nephew and wife, as well as four aides.
READ | Who Is Terrorist Masood Azhar, Whose Family Died In Op Sindoor
In a statement attributed to him, the Jaish leader said he has no regrets or despair.
Op Sindoor – India’s first tri-service mission since the 1971 war with Pak – also targeted terror camps in Pak-occupied Kashmir, and included the Indian military effectively neutralising Pak Army counterattacks, including missiles and drones aimed at civilian populations.
Military hostilities between India and Pak ceased on May 10, after a ceasefire.
On Monday, in his first speech since Op Sindoor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi put Pak on notice, saying India would strike again to protect its territory, and that Delhi’s doctrine on terror had changed.
READ | ‘Vacate Illegally Occupied Kashmir’: India Says Demand Won’t Change
Mr Modi also said India would not talk to Pak on Kashmir except to disable terrorist infrastructure in that country and arrange for the return of illegally occupied Kashmir.
With input from agencies
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