In Imran Khan's 'Naya Pakistan', minister shares stage with terrorist Hafiz Saeed

In contrary to his claim of working for better Indo-Pak relations, one of Khan's minister was seen sharing stage with 26/11 attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed in Islamabad on Sunday.

Pakistan minister Noor-ul-haq Qadri seen sharing stage with Hafiz Saeed.

NEW DELHI: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in his first address to the nation talked about eradicating terrorism from the country. He also wrote to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi about building on the mutual desire for peace between two countries. However, Khan, who romanticised the term 'Naya Pakistan' during the election campaign, seems to be going exactly against what he had boasted. In contrary to his claim of working for better Indo-Pak relations, one of Khan's minister was seen sharing a stage with 26/11 attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed in Islamabad on Sunday. Noor-Ul-Haq Qadri, who is the Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, addressed the All Parties Conference (APC) organised by the Difa-e-Pakistan Council in which Saeed, who orchestrated the November, 2008, Mumbai terror attack in which 166 people were killed, was made to share the stage. Qadri also raked the Kashmir issue during the meeting. Hafiz Saeed carries a USD 10 million American bounty on his head for his role in terror activities. His organisation, Jammat-ud-Dawah, was declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014. Saeed had floated a political party to contest the National Assembly elections. His front the Milli Muslim League was soon listed by the United State as a foreign terrorist organisation. The MML was later barred from contesting polls by the Election Commission of Pakistan but decided to fight on the platform of the Allaha-u-Akbar Tehreek (AAT), which was registered in the ECP. Last week, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj slammed Pakistan at the UNGA for promoting terror activities in the region. In a scathing attack on Pakistan's sponsorship of terrorists, she said, "The demon of terrorism now stalks the world, at a faster pace somewhere, a slower pace elsewhere, but life-threatening everywhere." "In our case, terrorism is bred not in some faraway land, but across our border to the west," she added. "The killers of 9/11 met their fate; but the mastermind of 26/11 Hafiz Saeed still roams the streets of Pakistan with impunity." She accused Pakistan of "duplicity" and "hypocrisy," citing the shelter it gave Osama bin Laden.