India slammed Pak leaders’ ‘Frankenstein monster has turned on you’ at FATF meeting

By Anjali Sharma
UNITED NATIONS – India on Thursday invoked statements by Pakistan’s own political leaders at the UN to argue that Islamabad has lost control of the terrorism infrastructure it once enabled, declared that the “Frankenstein” monster has now begun wreaking havoc inside Pakistan itself.

The diplomatic clash also ranged across Masood Azhar, the Pahalgam attack and Pakistan’s “Form 47” controversy, with India pointed to an upcoming FATF meeting in Paris.

First Secretary at India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, Raghoo Puri, made the remarks during India’s right of reply to Pakistan’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Usman Jadoon, at the UN General Assembly’s Sixth Committee, which deals with legal issues.

“Pakistan has presented itself as a frontline state in combating terrorism and as a victim, while masking the fact that the Frankenstein’s [monster] the Pakistani state has created and lost control over have moved from wreaking havoc in neighburing countries to doing the same in Pakistan,” Puri said.

He pointed to recent comments by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif and a 2018 interview by her father, former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

“This was exposed recently by a provincial chief minister of Pakistan, and may I jog the memory of colleagues to an interview in 2018 by her father and former prime minister of Pakistan, exposing this dark secret,” Puri said.

“You cannot run with the hares and hunt with the hounds,” he added. “Reality never works like that.”

Maryam Nawaz had said in Lahore last month that the principal threat facing Punjab did not come from across Pakistan’s borders.

“Unfortunately, the threat Punjab, a province of 130 million, faces comes less from my neighboring countries and more from my neighbouring provinces,” she said.

She also rejected attempts to differentiate terrorists according to their stated cause, saying anyone involved in terrorism remained a terrorist.

India paired those remarks with Nawaz Sharif’s 2018 comments about militant organizations and the Mumbai attacks.

“Militant organizations are active. Call them non-state actors; should we allow them to cross the border and kill 150 people in Mumbai?” the former prime minister had said in an interview with Dawn.

Puri did not name either Maryam Nawaz or Nawaz Sharif during his intervention.

He also took aim at Pakistan’s account of Operation Sindoor, launched by India after the Pahalgam terror attack.

“If bombed-out airfields and cratered runways look like victory to Pakistan, they are, of course, welcome to enjoy it,” Puri said.

He accused the Pakistani representative of trying to push what he described as the Pakistani military’s narrative about the outcome of the operation and linked it to what he called Islamabad’s wider misinformation campaign.

Pakistan returned with another right of reply, prompted a sharper response from Puri.

“Pakistan believes in the circular economy of words and narratives,” he said.

“If this much effort had actually been made in countering terrorism rather than narrative building, misinformation, and disinformation, the world would have been a better place.”

He added: “But nothing more can be expected from a Form 47 government.”

The phrase “Form 47 government” is used by critics of Pakistan’s government in reference to allegations of irregularities surrounding results from the country’s 2024 general election.

Puri also rejected Pakistan’s criticism of India over religious minorities and referred to the Pahalgam terror attack.

“The victims in Pahalgam were not asked about their political orientation; they were asked about their religion,” he said.

“It is therefore deeply ironic that Pakistan speaks of combating religious hatred while allowing the conditions that enable it to persist and thrive, especially by fomenting cross-border terrorism.”

He also questioned Pakistan’s efforts to locate Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar after authorities increased the reward announced for his apprehension.

“Pakistan glosses over its state support for terrorism by announcing enhanced rewards for apprehending UN-listed head of Jaish-e-Mohammed, terrorist and mastermind of several attacks against my country,” Puri said.

“When the media can reach Masood Azhar and get confirmation from him about the success of Operation Sindoor, surely the Pakistani state knows his whereabouts.”

Puri recalled that Pakistani representatives had earlier described Jaish-e-Mohammed as a defunct organization.

“The world has seen the script play earlier, and we are clear-eyed that this time also it is going to be no different,” he said.

He said safe havens for terrorist groups undermined international counter-terror commitments and denied justice to victims.

“When terrorist groups are allowed to operate under state political power, international commitments become meaningless, and when perpetrators are provided safe havens, the victims of terrorism are denied justice,” he said.

He invoked the September 11 attacks, the 2008 Mumbai attacks and Pahalgam as he pressed the case for international scrutiny.

“The world has not forgotten 9/11,” Puri said, referred to Osama bin Laden being found in Abbottabad in Pakistan.

“The world has not forgotten 26/11,” he added. “The world has not forgotten Pahalgam.”

Puri also pointed to the upcoming meeting of the Financial Action Task Force, the global watchdog against money laundering and terror financing.

“The world is aware of Pakistan’s financial support to terrorism, as also, the FATF plenary meeting coming up soon,” he said.

The FATF’s plenary and working group meetings are scheduled in Paris from October 26 to 30.