Islamabad: A day after BRICS countries named for the first time Pakistan-based terror groups like the LeT and the JeM for causing violence in the region, Islamabad on Tuesday rejected the statement, with its defence minister saying no group operates freely inside Pakistan.
"These organisations, they have some of their remnants in Pakistan, which we’re cleaning," Defence Minister Khurram Dastagir Khan told a TV channel, without specifying which groups he was referring to.
"But Pakistan, we reject this thing categorically, no terrorist organisation has any complete safe havens," he added, as per Reuters.
Yesterday, the 43-page 'Xiamen Declaration', adopted at the end of the five-nation BRICS plenary, expressed 'concern' over the security situation in the region and the violence caused by the Taliban, ISIS, al Qaeda and its affiliates including Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Haqqani network, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Hizb ut-Tahrir.
Significantly, the ETIM is active in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China and seeks to establish a separate "East Turkistan".
At the ninth Summit of the grouping, the BRICS leaders also condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations wherever committed and by whomsoever. They stressed that there can be no justification whatsoever for any act of terrorism.
"We reaffirm that those responsible for committing, organising, or supporting terrorist acts must be held accountable," the statement said.
(With Agency inputs)
