Pakistan dismisses India’s claims linking Islamabad to arrests as ‘malicious campaign’
Pakistan has strongly rejected New Delhi’s allegations linking Islamabad to the arrests in India, accusing the Indian government of using anti-Pakistan propaganda to deflect attention from its own security challenges and gain domestic political advantage.
Foreign Office Spokesperson Tahir Andrabi described the allegations as part of India’s “malicious campaign” against Pakistan, saying New Delhi was seeking to shift blame for its internal security problems onto Islamabad.
“Pakistan strongly rejects the allegations made by India’s Home Minister, attempting to link Pakistan with certain arrests in India,” Andrabi said in a statement.
Reuters says Indian Home Minister Amit Shah claimed that security agencies arrested more than 200 alleged “terror operatives” linked to Pakistan in a crackdown across 14 Indian states on August 12, three days before India’s Independence Day.
Shah alleged they belonged to a group called the Shahzad Bhatti Network and said the arrests had thwarted planned “subversive attacks.”
According to the spokesperson, such propaganda is yet another demonstration of India’s malicious campaign against Pakistan to divert attention from its domestic security challenges and to blame Pakistan for narrow domestic political gains.
“At home, India is a repressive state, brutally oppressing its minorities and silencing dissent,” Andrabi said and added, ” Externally, India is exporting terror and abetting terrorists.”
He said that unfounded Indian insinuations could not divert international attention away from India’s state-sponsored terrorism, targeted assassinations, and subversion in foreign territories.
“Pakistan has repeatedly shared evidence of India’s involvement in terrorism and destabilising activities in Pakistan.”
Andrabi further said that the convicted and serving Indian naval commander, Kulbhushan Jadhav, was undeniable proof of India’s direct involvement in subversion and terrorism in Pakistan.
“Pakistan urges the international community to reject baseless Indian allegations and hold India accountable for its state-sponsored terrorism in the region,” the Foreign Office spokesman said.
