ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has stressed the need for joint action to tackle global challenges such as terrorism.
In an interview with Indian journalist Karan Thapar, Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal highlighted the country’s losses during the war against terrorism.
He noted that the world is well aware that Pakistan faced the brunt of terrorism over the past several decades.
“Pakistan is fighting and has been fighting the largest inland war against terrorism. We’ve lost 92,000 lives altogether. Just last year, we lost more than 1,200 civilian lives in more than 200 different terrorist attacks.”
“At the rate at which terrorist attacks are taking place just this year alone, if they continue at this pace, this year will be the bloodiest year in Pakistan’s history.”
Bilawal added that he is not afraid of presenting his case to the Indian media and public.
“The new generation of both nations has the potential to break the chains of history,” the PPP leader said. He was of the view that the youth would be the ones to resist hatred, war, and bullying.
“Our future should not be tied to conflict, but to peaceful coexistence, cooperation, and prosperity,” he added.
Recalling the assassination of his mother and former premier Benazir Bhutto, Bilawal said: “I too am a victim of terrorism. I feel the pain of the victims of the Pahalgam terrorist attack. I understand the trauma that their families are experiencing in a way more than many others can ever imagine.”
Condemning the Indian allegations, Bilawal said that immediately after the Pahalgam attack, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif publicly stated that Islamabad is “willing to be part of any impartial international inquiry into the incident, our hands are clean.”
“We had that sort of confidence. It was the Indian government that rebuffed that offer. To this day, the Indian government has not shared with Pakistan or the international community.”
In May, Pakistan and India were drawn into a military confrontation, sparked by the Pahalgam attack in April in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
India linked Pakistan to the attack without providing any evidence. Pakistan had condemned the Pahalgam incident and repeatedly offered a neutral and transparent international investigation into the incident.
However, India failed to respond to Pakistan’s offer and continued with its aggressive posture, jeopardising regional peace.
The nuclear-armed rivals used missiles, drones, and artillery fire during the four-day fighting, their worst in decades, before agreeing to a ceasefire.
In the aftermath of the conflict, Bilawal led a parliamentary delegation on a diplomatic mission to key global capitals, aiming to counter Indian propaganda and present Pakistan’s stance to the international community.
