Twist In Pakistan Politics With A Pinch Of Salt

Pakistan does not have a use for militant Jihadi groups anymore, this comment comes at a time when Pakistan faces blacklisting by the international terrorist-financing watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), and must be taken with a pinch of salt stated Prime minister Imran Khan.

If his comments in a New York Times interview have the blessing of Pakistan's all-powerful military, they cannot be trusted any more than the previously broken promises on the subject. If, however, Khan said what he said without clearing it with army Chief General Qamar Bajwa first, Pakistan's politics is about to take another interesting turn.

The former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had told the army t to act against militants and leaking the civilians' views to a Pakistani newspaper. This instigated Sharif's battle with the military that led to his eventual removal from office.

The army was angry over Sharif's suggestion that Pakistan risked global isolation over its support for Jihadi terrorists.

Azhar's designation as a terrorist by the United Nations was blocked by China at Pakistan's behest. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi publicly argued that Azhar was ill and could not be arrested and that there was no 'solid' evidence against him anyway. Such moves hardly reflect a change in Pakistan's 30-year policy of supporting Jihadis for influence in the region.