New Delhi:
A petition has asked the UK government to "strongly condemn Pakistan for providing safe haven for terrorists". The petition has received nearly 6, 491 signatures so far and the number is increasing frequently. The petition was posted on the UK Parliament website after 19 soldiers were martyred in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Uri, triggering massive outage in India and leading to surgical strikes across the LoC by the Indian Army.
In the UK, the government responds to such petitions if they reach 10,000 signatures. If it reaches 100,000 signatures, the petition is considered for debate in Parliament.
A day after the Uri attack, UK's Foreign Minister called on External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and told her that the UK stood shoulder-to shoulder with India in defeating terrorism.
On September 21, an Indian-American petition was started asking the Obama Administration to declare Pakistan a 'State Sponsor of Terrorism.'
The UK petition reads:
“Pakistan continues to double speak on issue of terrorism. It has aided & abetted enemies of the international coalition (of which Britain is a leading partner with the US) against terrorism. Osama Bin Laden's hide out was in Pakistan. Pakistan continues to harbour UN sanctioned terror networks.”
“The Inter-Services Intelligence has often been accused of playing a role in major terrorist attacks across the world including the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, terrorism in Kashmir, Indian Parliament Attack and Mumbai terror attacks. It has been noted by many that several militant & criminal groups are backed by senior officers in the Pakistani army & the country's ISI intelligence establishment. Daniel Byman says Pakistan is probably today's most active sponsor of terrorism.”
