IMF funding to Pak akin to backing terror, says Rajnath

Azad, Tharoor likely to be part of govt delegation to world capitals

- ARCHIS MOHAN

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday appealed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to reconsider its recent $1 billion bailout package to Pakistan, while asserting that it was akin to terror funding as a large chunk of this loan will be diverted to create terror infrastructure.

Addressing Indian Air Force personnel at Bhuj Air Force Station in Gujarat, PTI quoted Singh as having said, "Certainly, a large part of IMF's $1 billion assistance will be used to fund the terror infrastructure. Will this not be considered indirect funding by the IMF, an international organisation?" "Any financial assistance to Pakistan is no less than terror funding. The funds India gives to the IMF should not be used, directly or indirectly, to create terror infrastructure in Pakistan or any other country."

In its board meeting in Washington on May 9, the IMF cleared a $1 billion tranche for Pakistan as part of its $7 billion funding programme for the country, which India had protested.