Heart of Asia declaration ‘was harsher than BRICS'

Heart of Asia declaration ‘was harsher than BRICS'​

Pakistan could not blame anyone when five emerging economies, during a conference in September, named two Pakistan based militant organisations for disrupting the region’s peace.

These names had already come up as a part of the Heart of Asia declaration, which Pakistan is also a signatory to.

Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif indirectly admitted this in the policy statement he delivered before the Senate on Tuesday, while briefing them on the Summit of five emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) held in Xiamen, China in September.

“The Heart of Asia declaration came before the BRICS declaration. It was even harsher than BRICS”, he remarked. He said it is the government’s official policy to declare the organisations that the Security Council declares as terrorist groups.

The groups that have been named in BRICS for violence in the region, besides the Haqqani network, include Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, TTP and Hizb-ut-Tahrir.

“We, in this regard, express concern on the security situation in the region and violence caused by the Taliban, ISIS/Daish, Al-Qaida and its affiliates including Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Haqqani Network, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, TTP and Hizb-ut-Tahrir” read clause 48 of the BRICS declaration.

The inclusion of the two organisations in the final BRICS declaration has caught many in Pakistan by surprise and has also raised the question of why China did not try to omit this clause. However, diplomatic sources said the Chinese side played its role in diluting the wording of the clause.

Asif assured the Senate that Pakistan was not being isolated. He added that diplomatic support has increased recently, especially after United States President Donald Trump’s speech, highlighting the new US policy on Afghanistan while criticising Pakistan’s role in August this year.