New Delhi:
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to reconsider its $2.1 billion bailout to debt-ridden Pakistan as it allows terrorists to use its soil for launching state-sponsored attacks against Indian citizens.
The IMF announced the funding while the Indian military as part of Operation Sindoor launched strikes at terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK). At that time, Pakistan was busy launching drone and missile strikes on civilian and military areas in northern India.
“The IMF’s aid to Pakistan is a form of indirect funding to terror,” the Defence Minister said today while addressing Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel in Gujarat’s Bhuj IAF station.
This military installation was also targeted by Pakistani missiles and drones, all of which were intercepted by India’s robust air defence network.
“Any financial assistance to Pakistan is actually terror funding. The IMF should reconsider its decision,” Mr Singh said.
Pakistan has for a long time allowed terror groups to use its territory as a safe haven. Even Osama bin Laden was found hiding in Pakistan in 2011.
Mr Singh gave the speech standing in front of a Jaguar deep-penetration strike fighter jet and an S-125 Pechora surface-to-air missile system. The Bhuj IAF station was said to be one of the main air bases from where a large number of long-range strike missions against Pakistan took off.
The IMF disbursed $2.1 billion to Pakistan in two tranches under its Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme. The global lender and Pakistan last year signed a deal for $7 billion under the EFF.
The Defence Minister commended the IAF for proving to the world through Operation Sindoor that it can reach every corner of Pakistan, wherever terror hides.
“The time that people take to have breakfast, you (IAF) took the same time to neutralise terrorists,” Mr Singh said, drawing loud claps from the personnel at the Bhj IAF station.
“Raat ke andhere main din ka ujala dikha diya (Indian missiles were like sunlight in the dead of the night in Pakistan),” he added, referring to visuals from Pakistan that showed terror infrastructure exploding sky high and briefly illuminating whole neighbourhoods with intense, bright light.
