Summer of terror

Indications are that Pakistan will continue to sponsor terrorism in Kashmir to keep the dispute alive internationally

- NAMRATA BIJI AHUJA

THESE DAYS, PAKISTAN Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa is busy shuttling between the military offices in Karachi, the country’s financial capital, and the army headquarters in Rawalpindi. The Covid-19 pandemic has not only hit Pakistan’s economy but also turned international attention away from its favourite subject—Kashmir. Its army, therefore, has taken centre stage to meet the two challenges.

Even before the pandemic, Pakistan’s economy had been witnessing a slump. There was pressure from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global terror financing watchdog, which put Pakistan on the grey list and threatened sanctions. At the same time, terror outfits were growing desperate after India abrogated Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019.

Last October, Bajwa met business leaders and government finance officials in Karachi to discuss ways to tackle the economic slowdown. The growing role of the military in the country’s economic management became clear when the military issued a statement after the meeting.

National security was intimately linked to economy, said Bajwa, and to prosper, there should be a balance in security needs and economic growth.

In Rawalpindi, Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence met top terror commanders like Jaish-e-Mohammed’s operational commander Mufti Abdul Rauf Asghar, brother of JeM founder Maulana Masood Azhar, in December. The commanders were told that the government will ease restrictions on terror outfits.