Pakistan's former Foreign Minister and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Bilawal Bhutto has endorsed a statement by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, who publicly acknowledged Pakistan's history of supporting terrorist organizations.
"As far as what the Defence Minister said, I don't think it's a secret that Pakistan has a past," Bhutto said in an interview with a UK-based news channel.
While acknowledging Pakistan's past involvement with terrorist groups, Bilawal stated that the country has paid a heavy price for this misstep.
"Pakistan has supported terrorism. As a result, we have suffered—Pakistan has suffered. We have gone through wave after wave of extremism. But through this suffering, we also learned our lessons. We have undertaken internal reforms to address this problem," he said.
When asked about the assassination of his mother, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, by terrorists, Bilawal said that Pakistanis have learned a lot from various terror incidents in the country.
"Supporting terrorism is a part of our history. It is true—an unfortunate part of our past," he said.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is the chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which is part of Pakistan's ruling coalition. The 35-year-old is the son of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated on December 27, 2007, by a 15-year-old suicide bomber in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Earlier, Pakistan's Defence Minister Admitted to Supporting Terrorism
Prior to Bilawal's remarks, Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had publicly admitted to the country's past role in supporting, training, and funding terrorist organizations. He described it as "dirty work" done for the West and labeled it a "mistake" for which Pakistan has suffered.
In an interview with a UK news channel, Asif candidly admitted the country's involvement in sponsoring terror groups.
When the news presenter asked, "You do admit, sir, that Pakistan has had a long history of backing, supporting, training, and funding these terrorist organizations?", Asif responded without hesitation: "Well, we have been doing this dirty work for the United States for about three decades, you know, and the West—including Britain."
"That was a mistake, and we have suffered from it. That's why you're raising this with me. If we had not joined the war against the Soviet Union, and later the war after 9/11, Pakistan's track record would have remained unimpeachable," he said.
