The Foreign Office (FO) on Wednesday rejected the “baseless, misleading, and unwarranted statement” issued by India’s Ministry of External Affairs on Pakistan’s action against terrorist infrastructure in Afghanistan.
The development after targeted overnight airstrikes were carried out in Kabul and Nangarhar amid Operation Ghazab lil-Haq. A day earlier, Pakistan maintained that it had targeted ‘Camp Phoenix’ — a former US military base currently being used by Afghan Taliban forces — even as Afghanistan claimed a drug rehabilitation centre had been bombed instead.
Subsequently, India’s Ministry of External Affairs had condemned Pakistan’s action, calling it a “direct threat” to regional peace and stability.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, FO spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said, “Pakistan rejects the baseless, misleading, and unwarranted statement issued by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs on Pakistan’s ongoing action against terrorist infrastructure in Afghanistan.”
“Against the backdrop of India’s active sponsorship of terrorism directed at Pakistan from Afghan soil, as well as its historical role as a spoiler, this statement merely reflects India’s blatant hypocrisy and duplicity,” he said.
Andrabi recalled that the statement emanated “from a country whose leadership remains unaccountable despite instrumentalising Islamophobia for domestic electoral gain and perpetrating pogroms against its Muslim population”.
“Only a few weeks ago, its leadership pledged full and unequivocal support to another occupying power responsible for the ongoing killing of thousands of innocent Palestinians,” the spokesman said.
Andrabi further said that “it is preposterous for a state that has historically undermined the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its neighbouring countries, in violation of international law and the principles of the United Nations Charter, to comment on the upholding of such principles”.
“Such statements cannot divert attention from the fact that India has been, and continues to, suppress and deny the right to self- determination of Kashmiris in Jammu and Kashmir, in violation of relevant UN resolutions,” he said.
He noted that India must refrain from supporting and sponsoring terrorist groups operating from Afghan soil, including those listed under the UN Security Council sanctions list.
“In this regard, India should cease its misplaced lament over Pakistan’s successful counter-terrorism measures,” Andrabi said.
Ammunition depot among targets hit
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Tuesday that an ammunition storage facility was among the targets hit in the Afghan capital. However, reports emanating from Kabul said that a drug treatment centre known as ‘Omid Camp’ was targeted, with Afghan officials claiming hundreds dead and injured as a result.
The UN called for a swift and independent investigation, the EU urged both sides to exercise restraint, while China asked the two countries to “swiftly implement a ceasefire” and resolve their differences through dialogue in the wake of the incident.
In a statement, Tarar said that Pakistan conducted six “precise, deliberate and professional” strikes in Kabul and Nangarhar on Monday night, as part of Islamabad’s Operation Ghazab lil-Haq, to dismantle terrorist infrastructure that was facilitating attacks on Pakistani soil.
As with established practice, all six strikes were promptly put out with video footage by the information ministry, making the nature of the targets plain for all to see, he noted.
“The visuals leave no room for doubt,” he said, adding the flames and secondary detonations witnessed in Kabul further confirm that the intended ammunition storage site was hit.
“No hospital, no drug rehabilitation centre, and no civilian facility was targeted,” Tarar maintained.
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