Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha MP Baijayant Panda, who led an all-party parliamentary delegation in four countries, on Thursday cornered Pakistan over the Islamic nation’s continous support to terrorism. Panda labelled Pakistan as “an emperor that has no clothes”. The delegation led by Panda visited Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Algeria. It included members Nishikant Dubey (BJP), Phangnon Konyak (BJP), Rekha Sharma (BJP), Asaduddin Owaisi (All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen), Satnam Singh Sandhu, Ghulam Nabi Azad, and Harsh Shringla.
“Pakistan is like the emperor that has no clothes. It’s pretty shameless, but everybody knows what it is,” Panda said in an interview with India Today.
The delegations were sent to 33 countries following Operation Sindoor against terror sites located in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. The Operation Sindoor was launched on May 6-7 to avenge the killings of 26 civilians by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22.
Talking about the countries visited by the parliamentary delegation and their bilateral relationship with Pakistan, Panda informed that even though these are Islamic nations, their paths are not the same as that of Pakistan since all four countries, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Algeria, have taken “strong” action against “jihadism”.
Contrary to actions taken by these countries, the BJP MP said, Pakistan has gone in the opposite direction, encouraging jihadis and fundamentalist elements.
“Keep in mind that over the last couple of decades, you know, these are all Islamic countries, but their path and Pakistan’s path have diverged quite a bit. All these four countries have taken very strong actions against jihadism and Salafist elements, and they have rubbed them out from operating on their soil,” Panda said.
“Pakistan has gone in the opposite direction. It continues to encourage jihadis and fundamentalist elements. This is why there is a divergence in their relationship with Pakistan,” he added.
Highlighting the financial assistance provided to Pakistan by these countries, Panda argued that they have witnessed the aid being misused. He said that Pakistan has used the aid to finance terrorism instead of working for development.
“Some of these countries have helped Pakistan financially in the past years, and they have seen that the aid has been misused. Now, these countries have developed their schools, roads, colleges and hospitals. But Pakistan has taken their money and, instead of using it for the same purpose, has used it to finance terrorism,” he said, adding, “These are things that they are very unhappy about, and they did make it very clear to us that they stand with us.”
Furthermore, Panda said that the four Islamic nations perceive India and Pakistan in entirely different ways, categorising the neighbouring country as a “problem child” who abstains from becoming normal and has “misused the support”.
