“Can Put Lipstick On Pig, But.”: Ex-US Official Criticizes Pak For J&K Attack
Michael Rubin employed the "lipstick on a pig" metaphor to explain that there must be no pretence that the Pahalgam attack was "spontaneous action".
New Delhi:
Former Pentagon official Michael Rubin compared Pakistan Army chief Asim Munir to the deceased Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, while blaming Pakistan for its involvement in the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives.
Mr Rubin, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, explained to ANI, “The only distinction between Osama Bin Laden and Asim Munir is that Osama Bin Laden resided in a cave while Asim Munir resides in a palace, but apart from that, the two are identical, and their fate should also be the same.”
He said that the sole reaction to the attack on Pahalgam is to officially declare Pakistan as a terror state sponsor and Asim Munir as a terror entity by the United States.
Mr Rubin employed the “lipstick on a pig” rhetoric to expound there must be no hypocrisy there had been any kind of “spontaneous action” in the Jammu and Kashmir attack. “As for timing, just as it happened to coincide with a terror attack when Bill Clinton visited India, so too does it appear Pakistan wishes to take the focus off Vice President JD Vance’s visit to India,” he stated.
As the remains of those who lost their lives in Tuesday’s attack on the popular Baisaran meadow arrived in their native town and last rites were performed, India declared a series of diplomatic actions against Pakistan.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri declared the expelling of Pakistani military attaches, suspension of the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 and immediate closure of the Attari land-transit post in the light of cross-border connections to the attack. He declared the total number of the Pakistani and Indian high commissions will be reduced to 30 from the current 55 by further reductions to be made by May 1.
The foreign secretary added that Pakistani nationals will not be allowed to enter India on the SAARC visa exemption scheme (SVES) and any Pakistani national who is already in India on it SVES visa should depart India within 48 hours. He also stated that “the defence, military, naval and air advisors in the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi are declared persona non grata” and they should depart from India within a week.
