ISLAMABAD: Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said Pakistan is ready to forge a historic, phenomenal partnership with India—to jointly combat terror, not as adversaries playing a zero-sum game, but as neighbours with a shared moral and civilizational duty to protect over a billion souls from the plague of extremism.
“All it requires is for India’s leadership to step down from the high horse that is galloping its republic toward the abyss,” he said while addressing an International Conference “Pakistan Fighting War for the World against Terrorism, organized by the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) here Wednesday.
Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto said, “Pursue peace with Pakistan, Sit with us. Talk to us. Let us resolve Kashmir in accordance with the aspirations of its people. Let us end the weaponization of water. Let us build a peace as mighty as the Himalayas. Let us return to our shared traditions—rooted in the ancient soil of the Indus Valley Civilization. It is not weakness to extend a hand, it is wisdom,” he said. To India, Bilawal said that we have a shared stake in ending this cycle of fire. He said since Pakistan and India last sat across the table to discuss terrorism in 2012, the world has changed—and so have we.
After our successful exit from the FATF grey list, he said Pakistan stands among the most
serious counterterrorism states in the world. “It is time India recognizes this transformation—not as a concession, but as an opportunity,” he said. He said terrorism is a collective malice as no bold offense, no nationalist rhetoric, no regional hegemony can shield one nation from a fire it helped light on the other side.
“We have fought and won the most extensive counterterrorism campaign in modern history. We dismantled militant networks, transformed our financial systems, and met the world’s toughest regulatory standards,” he said. The chairman PPP said Pakistan has buried 92,000 sons and daughters, soldiers and civilians alike. He said since 2024, was our deadliest in a decade as at least 685 of our service members embraced martyrdom in 444 separate attacks, 1,612 Pakistanis— teachers, traders, traffic wardens—never returned home. Describing terrorism as borderless, Bilawal said “The fight we wage is not Pakistan’s private quarrel. It is civilizational self-defense on behalf of all humanity,” he said.
Bilawal highlighted the country’s sacrifices in the war against terrorism, stating that Pakistan’s armed forces, backed by its citizens, have broken al-Qaeda’s back, dismantled Daesh and driven away the TTP. Bilawal emphasized that while the world discusses violent extremism in conferences, Pakistan confronts it daily.
Emphasising Pakistan’s sacrifices in the global war on terror, he criticized some countries for questioning Pakistan’s efforts, stating, “We’ve bled enough to write the preface of peace in our own ink. We won’t have that manuscript proofread by those who stayed safe behind oceans and alibis,” referencing Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s words. Bilawal urged multilateral lenders to acknowledge Pakistan’s courage in their risk assessments and for media outlets to recognize the country’s progress, dropping the “troubled” prefix when mentioning Pakistan.
Across the Durand Line, Bilawal said the Taliban regime was greeted by many as an inevitable fact. “They promised stability. They delivered instead a 40pc surge in militant attacks on Pakistani soil and a sanctuary for the TTP, BLA and more. We say to Kabul — sovereignty confers duty. Stop the exits of fighters. Choke the arms traffic. Honour the blood-priced Doha commitments, or be judged by the company you keep,” he said.
Bilawal emphasized the need for global equitable burden sharing and structured investment in counterterrorism, modern technology, and development to combat terrorism effectively. He recalled Shaheed Benazir Bhutto’s courageous stance against extremism, emphasizing her vision that combating extremism requires not just force, but also hope. He highlighted President Zardari’s initiative, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), as an economic lifeline for communities affected by terrorism, aiming to bring peace and development through projects like micro-enterprises, women’s colleges and solar grids.
Bilawal said sixty-five percent of Pakistan is under the age of thirty and terror groups salivate at that statistic. “I look at the same number and see a firewall.”
He said there is no constitutional right to weaponize religion and if the world demands that Pakistan outlaw militias, as we are doing and have done, then it must also demand that every people live free of collective punishment. Selective outrage is the oxygen of extremist recruiters. “From the Kashmir Valley to the olive orchards of Palestine, the world must deliver just peace,” the chairman PPP said.
