'I struggle to get Indian officials to...': Sky News' Yalda Hakim on West's limited understanding of Kashmir

Amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack, Sky News presenter Yalda Hakim has said that Indian officials are often reluctant to speak on Kashmir, unlike their Pakistani counterparts who are quick to offer their narrative.

"I have found that I've really struggled to get Indian officials to talk on the issue, to talk about what the problems are. I struggle to get Indians to come to the camera and talk about the importance of Kashmir. And yet the Pakistanis on their part, to be totally fair and frank, want to come out, want to talk about why this is such a talking point for them, why it's so important to them, why they have nothing to do with this,” Hakim said in an exclusive interview with India Today.

Her remarks come in the wake of an explosive interview aired on her show where Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif admitted that Pakistan had been “doing the dirty work of the West" for three decades.

"My first reaction perhaps was slightly jaw-dropping. I mean, if you watch the interview, you see me almost take a breath, a pause. I sort of want him to elaborate," Hakim recalled, adding, "He goes on to clarify to say, ‘No, we are doing that. We did do for decades the dirty work of the West.’"

Asif's comments, made just days after the Pahalgam attack in Jammu and Kashmir, referred to Pakistan's role in training and hosting terror groups during the Cold War era. "That was part of history,” he said, adding, "Had we not been forced to take part in funding these groups...perhaps the trajectory of our country would have been different.”

Hakim noted that such a candid admission shocked many. "I think that is what left the world shocked — that Pakistan itself will no longer deny the brutality of funding these terrorist organizations and using it as a policy."

She also pointed out that the lack of public communication from Indian authorities contributes to the West's limited understanding of the Kashmir issue. "India struggles to highlight it. India struggles to really raise the issue, perhaps the way that the Ukrainians have done...I think that adds to the lack of understanding in the West of the issues."

When asked whether Asif was disingenuous in separating past actions from current realities in Kashmir, Hakim said, "He pinned it to their history as a nation...but in terms of admitting that Lashkar-e-Taiba still exists as an organisation, that their leadership roams freely in Pakistan — it was not something that he was willing to accept."

On the wider global response, Hakim said, “The United States, the West hasn't held Pakistan accountable for playing these double games for years.” She cited US President Donald Trump’s 2018 move to cut military aid to Pakistan, accusing it of sheltering terrorists attacking NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Hakim concluded by warning that the ongoing escalation could be dangerous. "The concern really is — could this escalate into something else? Indian officials say Pakistan can't keep scaring us with nuclear war talk. But the Pakistanis say they won’t back down if attacked."