'No room for jihadi outfits or culture in Pakistan, says Imran Khan

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday said that there was no room for any "jihadi outfits or culture" in Pakistan.

During an interaction with media persons in his office, Khan said that Pakistan is not only a peace-loving country but also made sincere efforts in eradicating the culture of "jihadism" and terrorism from the country through short-term and long-term policies.

In fact, no country in the world could allow private militias to operate at will, Dawn quoted Khan as saying.

The statement by the Pakistan's Prime Minister comes at a time when the international pressure is mounting on him for not taking enough appropriate steps against the militancy breeding on the Pakistani soil.

In the wake of Pulwama terror attack, US Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, earlier this week in a radio interview, warned Pakistan that another terror attack on India in future will prove to be "extremely problematic."

Tensions between India and Pakistan have escalated in recent days after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) killed 40 security personnel in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14.

Prime Minister Khan, during the meeting however, denied to respond directly on Pompeo's remarks, but said, "Here is a situation that on the one hand India is wrongly blaming Pakistan for the Pulwama attack just because Jaish accepted responsibility, and on the other, even Iran is complaining that militant groups have been using our soil to carry out attacks."

Speaking further on counter-terrorism moves recently undertaken by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, Khan stated that all parties had agreed to the implementation of National Action Plan (NAP) and proscribing militancy in the region.

The Prime Minister also promised to take action against the terrorist groups that "have existed since the days of the US-led Afghan war against the Soviets in Afghanistan, and have operated from the Pakistani soil for decades."

In June 2018, the Financial Action Task Force (FAFT) had grey-listed Pakistan and given a 27-point action plan, which was reviewed for the second time in this month.

The international terror financing watchdog decided to continue the grey-listing of Pakistan for its failure to stop funding of terrorist groups, including Jaish-e-Mohammad, Jamat-ud-Dawa, and Lashkar-e-Taiba.