ISLAMABAD: Defence analyst retired Lt-Gen Amjad Shoaib said on Monday that the Indian Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) has penetrated the ranks of the Pakistani military to some extent as well as parliament, bureaucracy and the media.

Speaking at a seminar on ‘The National Action Plan and the Implementation Malaises’, hosted by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Mr Shoaib discussed the measures taken by RAW and India to give a bad reputation to Pakistan, financially weaken it and create an unsafe environment so that Pakistan forgets about Indian held Kashmir.

He said RAW agents were working in various Pakistani departments in order to impose and propagate their ideas and policies. He said some military officials had even been arrested for involvement with the Indian intelligence. One of these, he said, was an official deployed at the Sialkot border who sent confidential documents across the border and was later arrested.

Talking about the security situation, he said the National Action Plan (NAP) had to be implemented across the country as terrorists keep moving from place to place. However, he said, this cannot be done as Sindh was not ready to send Rangers to the interior of the province.

Defence analyst claims India wants to make Pakistan weaker so it forgets about Indian-held Kashmir

“Punjab is also reluctant to start a Rangers led operation though the province is a hot bed for extremists,’ he added.

Pakistan is making an honest effort in its war against terrorism and has handed over 600 Taliban leaders to the US, he said, adding that Pakistan still has to face the consequences as Taliban leaders including Mullah Fazlullah crossed the border to India.

“Hafiz Gul Bhahadur and Maulvi Nazir were on Pakistan’s side but a military operation was started against them and they also crossed the border. Now, the Taliban have sanctuaries in Iran, businesses in Dubai and officers in Qatar but no one bothers about them,” he said.

He alleged that India is using terrorist groups to destabilize the country and to create hindrances for the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, which is what Indian agent Kulbhushan Yadav was doing in Pakistan when he was arrested.

The National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) should be made functional, he suggested.

Mr Shoaib said investigations should be held into where terrorist activities are funded from and alleged that the land mafia in Karachi and Lahore were generating illegal money, which can be used in financing terror groups.

Though progress has been noted on NAP, a lot more still needs to be done, said SDPI representative Shakeel Ramay. He also suggested that investigations be done into how terror groups are financed.

“State Bank and the Federal Investigation Authority are making efforts but a better system is needed for doing so. The money donated to charities should also be kept an eye on,” he said.

Discussing internet safety, Mr Ramay said that advances in technology have meant data can be obtained from a switched off laptop of mobile phone as well.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2016