ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is witnessing an unprecedented crackdown against banned militant groups, Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Khan Afridi said on Thursday, and all political stakeholders had been taken into confidence with regards the actions being taken.

The minister was briefing a group of foreign diplomats in Islamabad about a crackdown launched last month amid global pressure to act against militant groups, particularly those carrying out attacks in India, including Jaish-e-Mohammed, which claimed responsibility for a February 14 suicide assault that killed at least 40 paramilitary police in Indian-administered Kashmir.

That incident led to the most serious conflict in years between nuclear-armed neighbors Pakistan and India, with cross-border air strikes and a brief dogfight over the skies of Kashmir. Tension cooled when Pakistan returned a downed Indian pilot.

“The action taken against the proscribed organizations is our own decision adopted under the National Action Plan and all political forces had signed NAP in 2014,” Afridi was quoted as saying in an official handout from the ministry of interior. 

The National Action Plan is Pakistan's main counter-terrorism blueprint, adopted in 2015 after a militant attack on an army-run school killed 134 children in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

“Our message is loud and clear: No one would be allowed to challenge the writ of the state. Our land would not be allowed to be used against any country," Afridi added. 

Speaking about the arrests of top leaders of ultra-Islamist Tehreek-e-Labbaik (TLP) party after they shut down major cities in protest at the acquittal of a Christian woman who had spent eight years on death row on blasphemy charges, Afridi said the government’s handling of the issue had sent a clear message that no group would be allowed to challenge the state’s writ.

“The crackdown against TLP is a classic example of the state’s resolve against extremism which was even applauded by opposition parties and the world community,” the minister said.

He denied that any of the actions were due to international pressure, or because the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force had put Pakistan on a grey-list of countries with inadequate controls over money laundering and terrorism financing.

"It is for the wellbeing of our future generations," the minister added. 

“We are taking action against human trafficking, money laundering and drug businesses,” Afridi said. “For the purpose, we are fencing our borders … We are also monitoring banking channels besides launching an action against [illegal fund transfer practices of] hawala and hundi.”

He said the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan was striving to ensure equal rights for Pakistan’s minorities and had taken action against the alleged abduction and forced conversion to Islam of two Hindu girls last month.

Afridi also spoke about the government’s new visa policy that allowed citizens of 175 countries to apply for online visas and offered visas on arrival to visitors from 50 countries.

“We want to convey to the whole world that through the sacrifices that our army and our people have made in the war against terrorism, Pakistan is now one of the most peaceful countries of the world,” the minister said. “The doors of my country are open to the international community.”