New Delhi
Pakistan on Sunday cleared the air about two orders that sought to sanction an entire spectrum of terrorist organisations and their leaderships by stating that it was a routine exercise which was carried out last year as well.
In a statement, the Pakistan Foreign Office said such consolidated orders (called SROs or Statutory Regulatory Orders) are issued periodically as a routine matter. It had similar orders earlier “as per statutory requirements to meet our international obligations’’.
It denied that the naming of certain people in the SROs, such as Dawood Ibrahim, amounted to admitting their presence in Pakistan.
“The SROs issued to reflect the information contained in the list entry of UN designated individuals and entities. These lists contain names of individuals and entities designated under the two sanction regimes established pursuant to the UNSC resolutions,” said a Pakistan Foreign Ministry statement.
The statement did not mention whether it intended imposing sanctions against the 88 terrorist organisations and their leaders if they, as it admits, have been named by two sanction regimes set up by the UNSC.
In fact, the Pakistan Foreign Office said reports about Pakistan imposing new sanctions measures are not factual.
The Pakistan Foreign Office once again underlined that the information in the two orders has been “reproduced as per the details in the list entry under the two sanctions regime, which is publically available, and contains names of individuals who despite their confirmed deceased status still continue to be on the sanctions list.‘’
Sources here on Saturday had said they would not comment till Pakistan had taken action against extremist leaders like Masood Azhar and Hafiz Saeed, considered Pakistan Army proxies or the Taliban’s leadership, engaged in delicate peace talks with the US. -TNS
