LONDON: The British government has defended Pakistan’s record in combating terrorism. In a response to a public petition critical of Pakistan and signed by nearly 20,000 UK residents, the Foreign Office in London issued a statement saying: “Pakistan has made significant sacrifices in opposing terrorism.”

The petition, placed on an official government site, said: “Pakistan continues to double speak on issue of terrorism. It has aided & abetted enemies of the international coalition (of which Britain is a leading partner with the US) against terrorism.”

It also pointed out that Osama bin Laden’s hideout had been in Pakistan and alleged that the country continued to be a safe haven for UN-sanctioned terrorist networks.

Having attracted 19,484 signatures, the petition had passed the 10,000-signature threshold which obligates the British government to issue an official response.

British-Indian communities have until March to add signatures to anti-Pakistan document

A map showing the geographic locations of the signatories of the petition suggests that many of them come from parliamentary constituencies with significant British-Indian communities.

“The UK has regularly raised with Pakistan the need to take consistent action against all terrorist groups operating within its borders,” the Foreign Office statement said. It went on to list areas of UK-Pakistan cooperation.

The UK, the statement said, was providing Pakistan training on how to detect and disrupt improvised explosive devices, advice on counterterrorism security matters, such as aviation and airport security, and assistance in developing narratives to counter the extremist ideology.

In addition, the UK’s bilateral aid programme was assisting Pakistan with securing the rule of law, providing better education and tackling poverty.

The response to the petition comes ahead of next month’s two-day visit by Prime Minister Theresa May to Delhi where she will meet her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

Meetings between the two sides will be dominated not by Indo-Pak relations or recent events in India-held Kashmir but rather the fallout of the British referendum taking the UK out of the European Union.

The British government is keen to show international trading partners that, despite Brexit, the UK remains open for business. Speaking about the visit — her first non-European trip as prime minister — Mrs May said: “As we leave the European Union we have the chance to forge a new global role for the UK — to look beyond our continent and towards the economic and diplomatic opportunities in the wider world.”

The British acknowledgment of Pakistan’s counterterrorism efforts will be welcomed by the army and bureaucracy in Pakistan. There have been increasing concerns that allegations concerning Pakistani support for some militant groups have been gaining traction internationally.

In July this year a Congressional sub-committee in the US asked whether Pakistan was a friend or foe in the fight against terrorism. US concerns about Pakistan’s attitude to terrorism have led to a sharp reduction in US aid flows.

Posted in late September, the petition will be given six months up to the 29 March, 2017 for more signatures to be gathered and to see if a target of 100,000 can be met. Petitions which attract over 100,000 signatures trigger a debate in the British parliament.

Published in Dawn October 20th, 2016