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Why Doesn’t the U.K. Help?

by Newsweek Pakistan

Illustration by Minhaj Ahmed Rafi

Many in Pakistan are starting to believe New Delhi is preventing London from acting against Altaf Hussain.

Last year, Pakistan requested the United Kingdom to help resolve various pending criminal cases against Altaf Hussain, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader living in London. Of particular interest were cases of money laundering and sums allegedly received from Indian secret agents. Despite Islamabad’s stringent request for cooperation, however, all signs point toward London being disinclined to offer any aid. An action started at one level becomes blocked at another, and many is Pakistan now believe that the U.K. government is unwilling to proceed because of Indian involvement with Hussain.

Ever the pragmatist, London is looking at facts: the U.K. has retained its position as Europe’s top investment destination with not a little help from India. India is the 2nd largest international job creator in U.K. and the 3rd largest investor overall. India helps U.K. maintain its top spot with 140 new projects in 2015-16 alone, creating and safeguarding thousands of jobs. The Indo-U.K. relationship is very strong: the U.K. is the largest G20 investor in India and the biggest “maker” in India. British companies account for one in 20 Indian jobs in the organized private sector.

Indians in the U.K. also tend to be better integrated than most other South Asian nationalities. The 2005 London underground train attack—a trauma often compared to 9/11—was carried out by Pakistani migrants who had trained in Pakistan with proxy organizations located in South Punjab. U.K.-born Muslim women, of both Pakistani and Middle Eastern origin, wear hijab and burqa in public and have begun to attract negative attention especially after British Muslims went to Syria to join the Islamic State in its terrorist activities. British Muslim leader Anjem Chaudhry, a migrant from Pakistan now in jail, complicates matters further by saying the following in a tweet:

“Eventually the whole world will be governed by Shariah & Muslims will have authority over China Russia USA, etc. This is the promise of Allah. Under the Shariah, the false gods that people worship instead of Allah will be removed, like democracy, freedom, liberalism, secularism etc.”

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1 comment

sarwatayub March 23, 2017 - 2:16 pm

is it Delhi, or the UAE and Qatar which are preventing the U.K. from supporting Pakistan? U.K.’s reliance on Delhi is much less than its reliance on Arab moneys flowing into the U.K. properties and services sectors, which in fact is much more than what Delhi can do. Compare this with the fact that ArcelorMittal is closing down most factories/operations in the U.K., it is a bit hard to believe Delhi can be of much benefit to it, despite being a market for weapons and arms.

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