High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami Addresses Pakistan’s Role in Terrorism
New Delhi: Vikram Doraiswami, India’s High Commissioner to the UK, recently discussed what he termed undeniable evidence of Pakistan’s involvement in sponsoring terrorism both within its borders and against India. During an appearance on Sky News, amid rising tensions between the two nations, he displayed a large image that depicted senior Pakistani military officials alongside Hafiz Abdul Rauf, who is the brother of Jaish-e-Mohammed leader Masood Azhar, during a funeral for a terrorist linked to their group.
In the image, a Pakistani military officer was seen behind Rauf, with the Pakistani flag visible draped over a co-founding terrorist. Doraiswami emphasized the importance of the photograph, stating, “I think it’s valuable for your viewers. This person is a terrorist recognized under U.S. sanctions—Hafiz Abdul Rauf, who has ties to notorious terrorist organizations. Look at the individual standing behind him; he represents the Pakistani army.”
During a press conference in New Delhi, India presented these photographs as compelling evidence that Pakistan has, for decades, openly supported terrorism—not only in action but also from military premises.
This conversation followed India’s recent airstrikes on nine terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK), which were a response to a terrorist attack in Pahargam that resulted in the deaths of 26 people on April 22.
One of the targeted sites was the Jaish-e-Mohammed headquarters located in Bahawalpur, a city in Pakistan’s Punjab province, long suspected to be a key location for terrorist operations. In addition, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has shared visuals highlighting Masood Azhar’s brother, Abdul Rauf Azhar.
Abdul Rauf Azhar has been involved in several significant terror incidents, such as the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC-814 in 1999, the assault on the Indian parliament in 2001, and the Pathankot Airbase attack in 2016. Notably, during the IC-814 hijacking, India was pressured to release three jailed terrorists, including Masood Azhar, in exchange for the safety of 190 hostages.
The High Commissioner critiqued Pakistan’s call for an international investigation into these issues, asserting past cooperation was met with disregard. He referenced the Pathankot attack in 2016, where India permitted access to Pakistani investigators, only to see no reciprocation or trust come from that engagement. He also pointed to the 2008 Mumbai attacks, where substantial evidence provided to Pakistani authorities was either ignored or manipulated to obscure ties between the attackers and the Pakistani state.
