Pakistan’s endeavour to implicate India and Indian nationals over terror-related crimes by trying to internationalise this fresh case concerning Ajoy Mistry, an Indian cook, has been thwarted by the US as it refuses to accept the allegations against the Indian national who was arrested by the Pakistani authorities in Kabul. Pakistan wanted to convince the world that the Indian national they arrested was an ISIS terrorist. The US has put Pakistan’s proposal on a technical hold puncturing its hopes.
#NewsAlert – US rejects Pak’s allegation against Indian national Ajoy Mistry who was arrested in Kabul. Pak’s claims on technical hold.
Original input: @manojkumargupta pic.twitter.com/wyFs4dw6aW
— News18 (@CNNnews18) October 19, 2019
Pakistan, with the help of its all-weather ally China had moved the UN Security Council under resolution 1267 (the Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee, or the 1267 Sanctions Committee as it is now known), seeking action against Indian national Ajoy Mistry who it describes as an Islamic State terrorist targeting Pakistan. Pakistan wanted a fresh dossier on him under the UNSC resolution claiming that he was responsible for various attacks n Pakistan.
Coming as a major setback, the proposal of Pakistan to add Mistry in the ISIS and al Qaida Sanctions List which had been circulated by the chair of the 1267 Committee to the other members this month, has now been rejected by the US which had earlier blocked another China-sponsored proposal by Pakistan which tried to frame Venumadhav Dongara, an Indian engineer working on transmission lines in Afghanistan, in a similar plot.
On March 11, 2019, Islamabad had filed an FIR against Dongara in Peshawar on charges of supplying weapons, ammunition and explosives to the Tariq Gidar terror group, which allegedly attacked Peshawar airbase on September 18, 2015. Fearing that Dongara could be the next Kulbushan Jadhav, the Indian authorities evacuated the engineer from Afghanistan on September 8.
According to Indian security agencies, Ajoy Mistry holds an Indian passport and worked two years (2016-2018) as a cook in Abu Dhabi. Earlier, between 2008 and 2011, he worked as a cook in US Army camp in Iraq, and on June 2012 went to Kabul and spent two more years as a cook in Afghanistan. After being warned, the Indian officials say, he returned to India and is now in Kolkata.
Pakistan has claimed the Mistry was involved in “facilitating the movement of foreign terrorist fighters from Syria and Iraq to Afghanistan and held a number of meetings with ISIS-Khorasan leaders in 2017 and 2018”. It further states that Ajoy Mistry provided finances to ISIL-K leadership in August-September 2018 to carry out suicide attacks at Kalaya Bazaar, Orakzai, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan in which 31 persons were killed.
Living under the constant threat of being placed in the blacklist by the international terror financing watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF), desperate Pakistan with the help of its all-weather ally China is trying its best to hit back at India by framing Indians for terror.
An Indian official said Pakistan may be looking at trying to list at least three or four more Indian nationals. Since many Pakistani citizens have been designated as global terrorists including Dawood Ibrahim, Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar, Pakistan wants to achieve some sort of parity with India by getting an Indian national designated as one with the help of their all-weather ally China, he added.
