India slammed Pakistan’s accusations of unearthing “absolute proof” of India propagating terror strikes and said that these claims are concocted and a figment of the nation’s imagination. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava told news agency PTI on Sunday, 15 November, that, “This is yet another futile anti-India propaganda exercise. The so-called claims of ‘proof’ against India enjoy no credibility, are fabricated and represent figments of imagination.”
India’s statement came a day after Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi addressed a press conference alongside Army spokesman Major General Babar Iftikhar and alleged India’s involvement in terror attacks in Pakistan by presenting audio clips of Indian diplomats promoting terrorist activities in Afghanistan. The Kabul government also responded to these allegations and rejected them as baseless saying they won’t permit anyone to commit terror activities against a third country on its soil, reported the The Times Of India.
Srivastava said that Pakistan is peddling false narratives and “concocting documents” and the international community is well aware of its tactics. He said that Pakistan’s "desperate attempt" will find few takers in the international community as India’s stand on Islamabad’s “sponsorship of terrorism” is absolute.
“This desperate attempt will find few takers as the international community is aware of Pakistan’s tactics and proof of its terror sponsorship has been admitted by none other than its own leadership. Concocting documents and peddling false narratives will not absolve Pakistan of such actions. We are confident the world will hold it to account,” he said to PTI.
"We call upon Pakistan to end its support to cross border terrorism. Pakistani leaders have never hidden the fact that it has become a factory for producing terrorists. The face of global terror, Osama Bin Laden, was found in Pakistan. Pakistan’s PM glorified him as a 'martyr' from the floor of Parliament, he admitted the presence of 40,000 terrorists in Pakistan”, the MEA spokesperson told PTI.
Last month, Pakistan's Science and Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry admitted his country's role in the Pulwama attack during a debate in their National Assembly, reported PTI. "Their science and technology minister proudly claimed involvement and success of Pakistan, led by its prime minister, in the Pulwama terror attack in the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 Indian soldiers were martyred," Srivastava said.
LOC Infiltration By Pakistan on a Festive Occasion is ‘Deplorable’: MEA
Srivastava said on Sunday that the Pakistani government was trying to shift focus from its economic failures to justify cross-border terrorism, including ceasefire violations along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, reported PTI.
India summoned the Charge d’Affaires of the Pakistan High Commission, on Saturday 14 November, to lodge a strong protest over unprovoked ceasefire violation in Jammu and Kashmir on the festive occasion of Diwali.
Six civilians and five soldiers including one BSF sub-inspector, were killed in a ceasefire violation by Pakistan, amid a major flare up at the Line of Control (LoC) in North Kashmir on Saturday. Indian military sources said at least eight Pakistani soldiers were killed and 12 others injured in the retaliation.
"It is highly deplorable that Pakistan chose a festive occasion in India to disrupt peace and perpetrate violence in J&K through coordinated firing along the length of the LoC using heavy caliber weapons, including artillery and mortar on Indian civilians," the statement by India said.
Srivastava told PTI that Pakistani soldiers cover fire infiltrators despite the calls of restraint from India in accordance to the ceasefire understanding of 2003 for maintaining peace and tranquillity along the LOC. "The incessant infiltration of terrorists and induction of weapons to fuel terror activities continues unabated. Such activities are not possible without the support of Pakistani forces deployed along the LoC," he said.
(With inputs from PTI and Times of India)
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