Pak desperate as world has seen through its double standards: Govt – Times of India, The Times of India

NEW DELHI: The government on Thursday hit out at Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan for raising Kashmir in Davos and said Islamabad was acting in a desperate manner that the world could see through its double standards on terrorism.
The reaction came in the wake of Khan’s remarks that India had been taken over by an extremist ideology and though he appeared to be reaching out when he said the world would realise Pakistan’s economic potential when its relations with India normalized, the government did not seem impressed at all.
The external affairs ministry said Islamabad needed to focus on taking irreversible action against terrorists without making misleading and distracting claims, indicating that Khan needed to deliver in a consistent and verifiable manner on curbing terrorism aimed at India.
If Pakistan was indeed serious about a peaceful and normal relationship with India as Khan claimed, the onus was on Islamabad to create a conducive atmosphere, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.
“They have to take credible, irreversible and verifiable action against terror groups operating from their soil rather than making misleading and alarmist statements to divert the attention of the international community, ” he added. Since the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, Khan and other Pakistani leaders have often spoken of India-Pakistan tensions taking on a nuclear dimension.
The government said it was not surprised by the content and tone of Khan’s remarks on Kashmir, adding that not only were these comments factually inaccurate and contradictory, but also demonstrated a growing sense of frustration.
“Pakistan has to realise that the global community has seen through this double standard of playing the victim card in their fight against terror on the one hand, and supporting terror groups targeting India and other countries on the other, ”Kumar said.
Khan had brought up the alleged human rights violations by Indian forces in J&K in his meetings at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “Kashmir is, you know, it’s a far more serious problem than people realise, (than) the world realises. The problem is that India has been taken over by an extremist ideology, which is called Hindutva or RSS ,” Khan was quoted as having said in Davos.
Khan also said the world would realize the true “strategic economic potential” of his country when the relationship with India became normal. He said his vision was to make Pakistan a welfare state and asserted that economic growth was not possible without peace and stability.