US asks Pakistan to prosecute UN-designated terrorists like Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar

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The Unite States has asked Pakistan to prosecute terrorists like Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar. Speaking at a special briefing during the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York today, US Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia, Alice Wells said the reduction of the Indo-Pak tensions would depend on Islamabad’s seriousness in taking action against those who engage in cross-border infiltration.  

When asked about President Donald Trump’s offer to mediate on the Kashmir issue, Ms Wells said, Prime Minister Modi has already made it clear that he was not seeking mediation. She said, President Trump is willing to mediate if asked by both parties. She said, the US would like to see conditions where India and Pakistan can have a constructive conversation that leads to an improvement of relations. But, Pakistan has to take steps against terrorism including prosecution of UN-designated terrorists like Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar, Wells added.

Ms Wells said, the region’s stability and economic growth has long been unnaturally constrained because Central Asia is not taking advantage of the natural north-south trade into India. Pakistan is also not benefiting from living next to a 1.3 billion-person market, she said, referring to India. She also accused Pak Prime Minister Imran Khan of adopting the double standard by raising the Kashmir issue while ignoring the plight of an estimated one million Uighurs and other Turkic-speaking Muslims who have been detained in China’s Xinjiang province.

Rights groups said that China has been trying to forcibly curb Islamic traditions practised by its Uighur population and integrate them with the majority Han population in Xinjiang province.