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In wake of the recent killing of OBL, Pakistan has been accused of supporting and harboring terrorists. Neighboring old-time foe India has long accused Pakistan of using terrorism as an instrument of state policy. Pakistan obviously denies all the accusations.
So my question is that is there any definite evidence to prove that Pakistan is a terrorist country?
The answer is a resounding yes. Pakistan began sponsoring anti-India terrorists around the late 1980's and early 1990's (to ferment unrest in Kashmir because it lost conventional wars), and several former Pakistani Prime Ministers and Presidents have publicly accepted this fact. Of course, they were usually referred to as "freedom fighters" etc.
See the section called "Admission of state sponsored terrorism by Pakistani authorities" at this link for further references. Some quotes from referenced links:
SPIEGEL Interview with Pervez Musharraf
SPIEGEL: Why did you form militant underground groups to fight India in Kashmir?
Musharraf: They were indeed formed. The government turned a blind eye because they wanted India to discuss Kashmir.
SPIEGEL: It was the Pakistani security forces that trained them.
Musharraf: The West was ignoring the resolution of the Kashmir issue, which is the core issue of Pakistan. We expected the West -- especially the United States and important countries like Germany -- to resolve the Kashmir issue. Has Germany done that?
SPIEGEL: Does that give Pakistan the right to train underground fighters?
Musharraf: Yes, it is the right of any country to promote its own interests when India is not prepared to discuss Kashmir at the United Nations and is not prepared to resolve the dispute in a peaceful manner.
Also, from the same interview in 2010, allegations of continued training of terrorists in Pakistan.
SPIEGEL: A German member of the militant Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, 36-year-old Ahmad Sidiqi, who has been held by US forces in Afghanistan since July, allegedly told his American interrogators that he was trained in Pakistan and confessed there were plans to attack Europe. Why, nine years after 9/11, does Pakistan remain a breeding ground for international terrorism?
Musharraf: We poisoned Pakistani civil society for 10 years when we fought the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s. It was jihad and we brought in militants from all over the world, with the West and Pakistan together in the lead role. After the withdrawal of the Soviet troops, the West left Pakistan with 25,000 mujahedeen and al-Qaida fighters, without any plan for rehabilitation or resettlement. While you were mostly concerned with the reunification of Germany, we had to cope with this. Now you expect Pakistan to pull out a magic wand and make all of this suddenly disappear? That is not doable -- this will take time.
From The Hindu, July 2009
Islamabad (PTI): For the first time, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari admitted that militants and extremists were "created and nurtured" in the country as a policy to achieve some short-term tactical objectives.
Also, some confessions from Guanatanamo Bay detainees regarding ISI (Pakistan's primary intelligence and covert organization) support provided to terrorists, according to Wikileaks. From the introduction:
The ISI facilitated militants to cross the border to carry out strikes on Indian targets chosen by the Pakistan Army, several detainees at the Guantanamo Bay facility told US interrogators, according to a fresh set of American diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks.
The Pakistani army was also implicated (though not conclusively proved) to be involved in the Mumbai 2008 terrorist attacks, where all the participating terrorists had been given "commando training".
"Kasab in his confession has said one Major General was present during their training and supervised the firing practice. The name of this Major General was deliberately not revealed to the attackers as he occupies a senior position in the army," Nikam said.
The support continues even now, but due to changing factors, the terrorists they support have now come into the global limelight(due to links with Al-Qaeda of course).
Since terrorists receive support from the army, democratically-elected or coup-instated government heads and intelligence agencies, it would be fair to say that Pakistan is a state sponsoring terrorism.
