Washington DC [US], April 24 (ANI): Following the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon official and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, has called for the United States to officially label Pakistan as a state sponsor of terrorism. He also pointed to Pakistan's Army Chief, Asim Munir, and said he is no different from Osama Bin Laden and accused him of supporting terrorism.

While speaking with ANI, Rubin said, 'The only reaction that the United States should take is a formal designation of Pakistan as a state sponsor of terror and a designation of Asim Munir as a terrorist. The only difference between Osama Bin Laden and Asim Munir is that Osama Bin Laden lived in a cave and Asim Munir lives in a palace, but beyond that, the two are the same, and their end should also be the same.'

He further said, 'It was shocking, but this just goes to show you that you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig. You can pretend that Pakistan isn't a terror sponsor, but it remains a terror sponsor, no matter how much we try to normalise it. As for the timing, just as there was a terrorist attack when Bill Clinton went to India, so too does it seem that Pakistan wants to draw attention away from Vice President JD Vance's trip to India. The United States shouldn't let Pakistan get away with it, and we shouldn't pretend that this is some sort of spontaneous action.'

Rubin also drew a comparison between the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the terrorist strike in Pahalgam and said that both attacks targeted peaceful civilians--liberal Jews in Israel and middle-class Hindus in India.

He told ANI, 'That is exactly what went on when October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. It was directed specifically against Jews and not only against Jews, but among the most liberal Jews who were most prone to wanting peace and normalcy with the Gaza Strip.'

'Targeting a vacation resort, middle-class Hindus, it is evident that the Pakistanis are trying the same tactic now. It should be no more successful for Pakistan than it was for Hamas. And frankly, it's now the duty of India to do to Pakistan and to Pakistan's ISI what Israel did to Hamas. It's time to wipe out the leadership of the ISI to treat them as a designated terror group and demand that every country that is an ally of India, every country that is an ally of the world's largest democracy, do the same,' Rubin further stated.

As many as 26 people were killed in the dastardly attack by terrorists on tourists in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday.

India on Wednesday announced a series of steps to give a strong message to Pakistan for its support to cross-border terrorism, stating that the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 will be held in abeyance and the integrated checkpost at Attari will be closed with immediate effect.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri addressed a special press conference after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security and said Pakistani nationals will not be permitted to travel to India under the SAARC visa Exemption scheme.

The CCS meeting, which lasted over two hours, was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Cabinet Committee of Security (CCS), which met on Wednesday, was briefed in detail on the terrorist attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir in which 25 Indians and one Nepali citizen were killed.

The CCS condemned the attack in the strongest terms and expressed its deepest condolences to the families of the victims and hoped for the early recovery of the injured. In the briefing to the CCS, the cross-border linkages of the terrorist attack were brought out.

The attack, carried out by terrorists at Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam on Tuesday, is one of the deadliest in the Valley since the 2019 Pulwama strike in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed. The attack was one of the biggest terror attacks in the region after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.

The Pahalgam terror attack has shaken people to the core. Citizens are outraged and are demanding the strictest possible action against the perpetrators. (ANI)