Shehbaz Sharif refuses to answer questions on Hafiz Saeed, Pakistan’s alleged terror links at UN

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif declined to respond to questions from reporters about LashkareTaiba LeT founder Hafiz Saeed and allegations concerning Pakistanrsquos links to terrorism during his visit to the United Nations headquarters for the 81st UN General Assembly according to media reportsA video circulating on social media showed Sharif arriving at the UN headquarters where reporters asked him about allegations that Pakistan was harbouring terroristsSharif declines question on alleged terror linksAs Sharif entered the UN premises reporters asked ldquoPrime Minister when will you stop harbouring terroristsrdquoSharif did not respond to the question and continued walkingThe issue was raised again when the Pakistani prime minister left the UN headquarters Reporters asked him ldquoWhen will you prosecute LashkareTaiba LeT chief Hafiz SaeedrdquoSharif again did not answer and walked past the journalists without addressing the questionThe exchange came as India and Pakistan continued to trade allegations over terrorism and security issues at international forumsHafiz Saeed remains UNlisted terroristHafiz Saeed is the founder of LashkareTaiba a Pakistanbased organisation that is designated as a terrorist group by the United States and India The United Nations has listed Saeed under its sanctions regime including an asset freeze travel ban and arms embargoThe US government has also offered a reward of up to 10 million for information leading to his conviction for his alleged role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and other terrorist activitiesSaeed was convicted by a Pakistani court in terrorismfinancing cases and has been serving prison sentences in Pakistan He has denied involvement in the Mumbai attacksIndia raises Pakistanrsquos terror record at UNEarlier on Wednesday India criticised Pakistan at the United Nations accusing Islamabad of supporting crossborder terrorism and seeking to divert attention from its own economic and governance challengesSpeaking at the UN Human Rights Council Indian diplomat Kshitij Tyagi said Pakistan should focus on economic development rather than what India described as territorial ambitions and support for terrorismPakistan would better serve its people by focusing on development rather than by coveting territory of others or exporting terror because neither these nor its theatrics in the Council would help repay the loans its economy survives onrdquo Tyagi remarkedThe statement came amid renewed exchanges between the two countries at international forums over terrorism human rights and the situation in territories administered by PakistanIndia highlights situation in Pakistanoccupied KashmirTyagi also raised allegations concerning Pakistanrsquos handling of protests in Pakistanoccupied Kashmir PoKThis Council was told last Friday of scores of civilians killed since June in the territory Pakistan occupies of students arrested in Islamabad and Rawalpindi and of food and medicine held back When those accounts were given Pakistans answer was a point of order If any delegation in this room meets every objective criterion for this Councilrsquos scrutiny it is Pakistanrdquo he saidIndia has repeatedly criticised Pakistan over what it describes as human rights violations in Pakistanoccupied Kashmir while Pakistan rejects Indiarsquos characterisation of the territory and has itself accused India of rights violations in Jammu and KashmirTerrorism remains key issue in IndiaPakistan exchangesThe latest exchange comes as terrorism remains a major point of contention between India and PakistanIndia has repeatedly called on Pakistan to take action against individuals and organisations it alleges are involved in crossborder terrorism Pakistan has rejected allegations that it supports terrorism and has accused India of making politically motivated claimsWith inputs from ANI