Pak backing for terrorism major threat to South Asia

A senior Mohajir leader has urged the United States to halt acts of cross-border terrorism supported by Pakistan's military establishment.

In a statement issued here through the platform of the Voice of Karachi, Nadeem Nusrat, its chairman, said Islamabad's backing of extremist groups operating from its soil poses a huge threat to peace in South Asia.

Nusrat described South Asia as a 'nuclear flashpoint' similar to the Korean Peninsula, that could threaten regional as well as world peace.

Squarely blaming Pakistan for destabilising peace in South Asia, Nusrat warned that if Islamabad was not stopped from extending its support to extremist and religious fundamentalist groups, and provinding them a safe haven; there could be escalation of hostilities in places like Kashmir, Karachi and Balochistan that could destabilise the region further.

The chairman also warned that the persecution of ethnic and religious minorities continues unabated in Pakistan, and could cause resentment among the latter and turn into a major popular uprising, which could have serious repercussions for South Asia.

Nusrat squarely blamed Pakistan's military elite for the irresponsible policies affecting the lives of its people.

"This must stop now and the only way for this is to exert maximum pressure on Pakistan's 'Deep State' to force it to review its current polices and to ensure that all ethnic and religious groups in Pakistan have equal participation in policy-making process," the statement read.