New Delhi, Sep 18 (IANS) Pakistan has announced major austerity measures in the wake of rising economic challenges for both officials and people, but several organisations have been told to increase fund collections to fund terror networks, officials said.
An official said that austerity measures like major cuts to fuel usage and foreign travel and a ban on the procurement of new government vehicles have been announced for government officials, while the people have also been directed to follow strict austerity measures in the wake of a mounting economic crisis.
On the other hand, collections to fund terror networks are being ramped up as terror outfits in Pakistan, heavily rebuilding post Operation Sindoor, are in desperate need of funds. The operation carried out by the Indian armed forces to avenge the Pahalgam terror strike cost the ISI and its proxy terror outfits millions of Dollars in losses.
Pakistan primarily relies on front organisations, classified state allocations, criminal enterprises and also money allocated for defence spending to fund terror organisations.
An Intelligence Bureau official said that agencies such as the ISI have been instructing all these wings to ramp up fundraising that could be allotted to terror groups such as the Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Even Pakistan’s defence spending has gone up considerably post Operation Sindoor, but it is a well-known fact that terror groups benefit from this indirectly.
Terror groups are provided underground financing, which comes out of the funds that have been allocated for the defence sector, the official said.
In addition to this, the classified state allocations to these terror groups have also been increased, officials say.
Intelligence reports had estimated that indirect state-backed channels funded around $125 million last year, and this year the figure has been raised to $150 million. Even the drug cartels that majorly contribute to terror funding have been instructed to increase their funding.
The criminal enterprise that comprises drug cartels, money launderers and gangs that indulge in kidnapping and extortion contributed $70 million towards terror funding until last year.
Intelligence agencies say that, going by the meetings that have been held, the criminal enterprises have been asked to ramp up the sum to at least $100 million this year for terror funding. Another official said that even the front organisations, such as the religious charities which usually contribute $200 million towards terror funding, have been asked to increase their collections, the official said.
Officials say that the agencies would keep a close watch on this new set of developments when it comes to terror funding. It directly impacts India, and if groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad are well fed, then terror activities, especially in Jammu and Kashmir, are likely to rise, officials say.
The ramped-up defence spending is another area of concern. For years, the military has diverted a good chunk of its allocation to arm terror groups. This helps the military as these groups fight a proxy battle on their behalf.
This year the defence allocation was raised from 16 per cent to 18 per cent. For the current 2026-27 fiscal year, Pakistan’s official defence budget stood at 1.01 trillion PKR or $10.8 billion.
Officials say that a good part of it would be diverted to build terror infrastructure.
On the other hand, Pakistan has announced austerity measures for its government sector as well as the public. The government has banned official dinners, high-level conferences and funded seminars. Further, Pakistan has also curbed national power consumption by instructing markets and shopping centres to close by 9 p.m. and restaurants by 11 p.m. Austerity measures, on the one hand, and an iron fist directive to all fronts to spruce up funding for terror groups only show Pakistan’s mindset and how important its proxies are to it, an official said.
–IANS
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