Arnab Goswami, the editor-in-chief of Times Now, on Wednesday supported and backed an online petition to declare Pakistan as a terrorist state.
Claiming that "Pakistan provides patronage to international terrorists banned by the UN," Goswami appeals to every Indian to support the petition.
He also adds: "From the Lashkar to the Jaish and from the Taliban to the Haqqani network, all of them operate and grow out of Pakistan...Support this petition because Pakistan does all this with impunity and absolutely no remorse. Isolate Pakistan."
This follows a vigorous campaign by Times Now, demanding that India should act tough with Pakistan.
According to a report in the Times of India:
The petition cited H.R. 6069, the legislation moved by Texas Congressman Ted Poe, the Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism, along with Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, seeks to designate Pakistan a State Sponsor of Terrorism, and argues that the matter is "important to the people of United State of America, India and many other countries which are continuously affected by Pakistan sponsored terrorism."
According to the rules, any petition that crosses 1,00,000 signatures, qualifies for an official response from the US administration.
The online petition was created on September 21 and crossed one lakh signatures on Tuesday, which gives the Obama government 60 days to respond.
PTI quoted White House Deputy spokesperson Mark Toner as saying:
"Our focus with Pakistan is to enhance their capability and to deal with terrorist threats on their soil. They are fighting a serious and sustained campaign against violent extremism...We do believe that they are making progress and taking steps to counter terrorist violence, but at the same time we have been very clear that they need to target all terrorist groups, including those that target Pakistan's neighbours, and close all safe havens."
Watch a video of Arnab's appeal here.