Karachi, May 2 (UNI) Former Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has acknowledged that Pakistan has harboured terrorist and extremist forces for years, highlighting the country’s militarisation and its difficult history.
Speaking to Sky News in an interview, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader openly acknowledged Islamabad’s role in providing shelter to terrorist groups, while responding to a question about the earlier statements given by Defence Minister Khwaja Asif, who had said that Pakistan had been "funding" terrorist groups for years to do the "US’ dirty work".
“As far as what the defence minister said, I don’t think it is a secret that Pakistan has a past. As a result, we have suffered, Pakistan has suffered. We have suffered. We have gone through wave after wave of extremism. But as a result of what we suffered, we also learnt our lessons. We have gone through internal reforms to address this problem," he said.