Pakistan has admitted that the dossiers given to the United States and the United Nations Secretary General on what it described as “India’s involvement” in terrorism in Pakistan does not contain any “material evidence”. Instead, it claimed, the files contained “pattern and narrative” of “Indian involvement”. This was disclosed to Pakistan’s Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs on Thursday by Pakistan’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz. While testifying before the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, which met with Senator Nuzhat Sadiq in the chair, Aziz claimed that “The dossiers have been meticulously prepared, but material evidence cannot be shared for the sake of protecting the sources.”
Sartaz Aziz had first talked about the three dossiers ahead of the India-Pakistan National Security Advisers’ meeting, which got cancelled in August. His statement led to much media hype in Pakistan that Islamabad, after decades of complaining about Indian role in terrorism in the country, was finally readying to present credible evidence to the world. Following the cancellation of the bilateral NSA talks, the dossiers were given to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon by Pakistan’s Permanent Representative in the UN, Dr Maleeha Lodhi. The same were also shared by Sartaj Aziz with US Secretary of State John Kerry during Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to Washington last month.
The dossiers, according to previous official statements, contained proof about “Indian involvement in Balochistan, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and Karachi”.
In fact, while talking to the media after his US visit, Sartaj Aziz had claimed that the dossiers would help build a narrative about “India’s patronage of subversive activities in Pakistan”.
Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry told the committee that the contents of the dossiers — although they do not contain any material evidence — could be shared with the members of the panel only in an “in-camera” session due to “the sensitivity of the matter”.
With inputs from Dawn