Click to play videoNew Delhi: A day after India put in a formal request to the UN Security Council seeking a ban on the Jammat-ud-Dawa, the frontal organisation of the Lashkar, Pakistan has promised to do so if the Council takes the first move.
The Pakistani Ambassador to the UN Abdullah Hussain Haroon handed out an assurance that Islamabad would proscribe the Jamaat-ud-Dawah and freeze its assets on the request of the UNSC.
International pressure is growing with the US even warning of 'unintended consequences' if Pakistan fails to act.
US President George W Bush, the man who launched the war against terror, cannot be taken lightly even now.
Bush says, “We have made clear that governments that sponsor terror are as guilty as the terrorists and will be held to account.”
Meanwhile, Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani has now acknowledged the link between the Jamaat and the Lashkar-e-Toiba.
Gilani says, “Lashkar-e-Taiba is a banned Jamaat. If the office bearers of Laskhar-e-Taiba become members of Jamaat ud Dawa, you tell me what Jamaat will that be?
The federal government in Islamabad and the Punjab provincial government are reportedly exploring ways to tighten the noose around the Jamaat and the Lashkar.
Even Pakistani civil society appears to be emerging from its defensive shell
Islamabad-based military analyst Ayesha Siddiqui says, “We have seen Hafiz Sayeed on different television networks. Few people, the government claims are being arrested but the heads are still there. Mixed signals continue to be going out from Islamabad, which will invoke greater pressure.”
However, the signs from the UN Security Council are mixed. While the diplomatic knives are out for Pakistan's Jamaat-ud-Dawa with the consensus in favour of a ban, there is concern over how China will play its cards.
Diplomats warned that thrice in the past China has blocked moves at the Security Council to ban the Jamaat. The last as recently as May 2007.
China argues that such a ban would hit non-governmental organizations (NGOs) doing good work.
While the clock ticks at the UN, India remains hopeful.
Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon says, “Let's see what the international community does. We hope that they will respond positively to our request.”
India is committed to finding a diplomatic way forward and is forging a response to Pakistan in coordination with the world's major players.
However, as the air defense alert over Delhi suggests that the Indian government retains the right to use other means and instruments if Pakistan fails to deliver.
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