On April 16, Pakistani Army Chief General Asim Munir delivered a bold and communally charged handle that raised serious issues at the time.
Five days later, The Resistance Front ( TRF)—a proxy of the UN Security Council-designated terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Tayyiba ( LeT)—claimed responsibility for the terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir that killed 26.
The strike specifically targeted residents on religious grounds. In response, India has been exercising its “Right to Respond ” by taking decisive counterterrorism action aimed at foiling further cross-border terrorist infiltration and dismantling the infrastructure of internationally designated terrorist organizations, including LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammed ( JeM ).
Harboring extremists
Worldwide designated terrorist companies and their operatives are not only socially shielded but even financially supported by the Muslim state. This political aid arises mainly from the Pakistani Army—commonly referred to as the “Establishment”—and extreme spiritual components within Pakistan’s social range.
The Establishment integrates these evil networks to pay proxy wars against India, compensating for its ability to engage in regular military issue due to economic and geopolitical limitations.
Also, by continually attempting to destroy the American state through acts of terror, the Establishment seeks to maintain its prominent role in Pakistan’s inside decision-making, deflecting attention from governance failures by fueling morally driven patriotic sentiment among the populace.
On the other hand, extremist political stars support these groups to strengthen their voting banks as their collective language aligns with ideologies that resonate with certain voting segments.
The financial support for these actions is directly sustained through the money, grants and assistance that Pakistan receives from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other international organisations.
This is evident from Pakistan’s repeated placement on the Financial Action Task Force ( FATF ) grey list due to its consistent failure to demonstrate adequate enforcement against terror financing and to prosecute or convict UN-designated terrorists operating within its territory.
Cost of inaction
Through informal financial channels like the hawala system, terror networks operating from Pakistan facilitate the illicit trafficking of arms and ammunition across the so-called “Golden Crescent”, a region encompassing Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran.
These arms networks often extend into the Middle East, Africa and beyond, reaching extremist non-state actors and designated terrorist groups such as ISIS, Al-Qaeda and other jihadist outfits.
The threat is not limited to weapons alone. Violent extremist ideologies are also actively propagated from this region. A recent example includes the reported meeting between Hamas leaders and Pakistani terrorist organizations, which took place shortly before the Pahalgam attack—highlighting how radical networks collaborate across borders and fuel terrorism.
These interconnected and transnational networks ultimately undermine political stability, pose a grave threat to secularism and civil liberties, and often serve as the ideological foundation for lone-wolf terrorist attacks.
In a nutshell, the consequences of inaction are both direct and indirect—political, social and economic—and the global community cannot afford to turn a blind eye.
Holding Pakistan accountable
Multilateral institutions such as the IMF and World Bank must exercise heightened diligence when approving financial assistance to states like Pakistan, which has a well-documented history of enabling terrorism.
This includes implementing stringent pre-sanction checks to assess whether any portion of previously disbursed funds may have been diverted—directly or indirectly—for terror financing or activities that undermine regional and global security.
Robust international cooperation at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels is essential to counter this ongoing threat of state-supported terrorism.
Jaimin Parikh is a young peacebuilder and a UN SDSN Pathways Fellow. The views expressed are the author’s alone.