In a major boost to India’s anti-terrorism stance on the international stage, senior US Congressman Brad Sherman called on the Pakistani delegation, led by former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, to take decisive action against the terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and to ensure the protection of religious minorities within Pakistan.

Sherman met the Pakistani delegation in Washington, DC on Thursday. He urged them to advocate for the release of Dr Shakil Afridi, a Pakistani physician imprisoned for assisting the CIA in locating Osama bin Laden. Afridi helped run a covert polio vaccination program to collect DNA samples from bin Laden’s family in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Afridi was arrested shortly after the US raid on bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad in May 2011. In 2012, a court sentenced him to 33 years in prison. Sherman described freeing Afridi as “an important step in bringing closure for victims of 9/11.”

Bilawal Bhutto’s visit to the US coincided with the presence of the Indian delegation in Washington. Before meeting Sherman, Bhutto met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Security Council ambassadors in New York as part of Pakistan’s efforts to internationalise the Kashmir conflict and its dispute with India.

Sherman asked Bhutto to crack down on JeM. He emphasised the importance of Pakistan doing “all it can to eliminate this vile group and combat terrorism in the region.” He specifically highlighted JeM’s role in the 2002 kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl, a constituent of his congressional district. Omar Saeed Sheikh, a JeM operative, was convicted for orchestrating Pearl’s abduction and killing.

Sherman posted on social media platform X, “I emphasised to the Pakistani delegation the importance of combatting terrorism, and in particular, the group Jaish-e-Mohammed, who murdered my constituent Daniel Pearl in 2002. Pearl’s family continues to live in my district, and Pakistan should do all it can to eliminate this vile group and combat terrorism in the region.”

JeM is a UN-designated terrorist organisation responsible for numerous deadly attacks in India, including the 2019 Pulwama suicide bombing that killed 40 Indian security personnel. Sherman’s remarks came as a multi-party Indian parliamentary delegation led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor was also in Washington briefing American officials on India’s Operation Sindoor and its response to terrorism following the Pahalgam terror attack.

Beyond terrorism, Sherman raised concerns about the treatment of religious minorities in Pakistan. He stressed that Christians, Hindus, and Ahmadiyya Muslims in Pakistan must be allowed to practise their faith freely and participate in the democratic system without fear of violence, persecution, discrimination, or unequal justice.

Sherman told the delegation, “The protection of religious minorities in Pakistan remains an important issue.” He highlighted the ongoing international concerns about minority rights and religious freedom in Pakistan.