KARACHI, Pakistan
India is pursuing an agenda to destabilize Pakistan and is behind a fresh wave of terror attacks in the country, top Pakistani officials said on Saturday.
New Delhi continues to sponsor terrorism on Pakistani soil, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said at a news conference in the capital Islamabad, presenting a dossier with what he said was “irrefutable evidence.”
Qureshi said Pakistan has “concrete” proof of India providing financial and material help to multiple terrorist organizations, including UN-designated groups such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Balochistan Liberation Army, and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar.
He said the dossier will be submitted to the UN, Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC), and five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
“Pakistan has shared its concerns with major international partners before. We are now presenting irrefutable evidence to the world of the Indian state’s direct sponsorship of terrorism inside Pakistan that has resulted in the deaths of innocent Pakistanis,” he said at the news conference along with army spokesperson Maj. Gen. Babar Iftikhar.
“We expect the international community to play its role for peace and stability in the region by compelling India to immediately halt its state sponsorship of terrorism inside Pakistan.”
The development coincides with a fresh round of clashes between the two militaries along the Line of Control (LOC) -- a de facto border that divides the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region between the two nuclear neighbors -- which killed 16 people, including four Indian soldiers.
Accusing New Delhi of “state terrorism” in the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region and resorting to shelling along the LOC, Qureshi said the international community can no longer turn a blind eye to the “rogue behavior by a state which refuses to adhere to International laws and conventions.”
“Let me be clear that India is a state sponsor of terrorism that is consistently exhibiting rogue behavior,” he said.
“If the world does not take the Indian agenda to destabilize and undermine Pakistan in the region seriously, then I am afraid peace and stability in a nuclear South Asia does not seem to be their priority.”
Qureshi warned that Islamabad reserves the right to respond to India’s “provocations.”
“We know how to defend ourselves. India’s efforts to foment terrorism inside Pakistan will not be allowed to undermine Pakistan’s stability in any way,” he asserted.
“Whether they acknowledge it or not, all major powers know that India is a threat to the entire region. They must act to stop India from its continuous sponsorship of terrorism against Pakistan.”
There has been no comment yet from India on these latest allegations by Pakistan./aa
