Pakistan dismisses Indian minister's 'unfounded' remarks as 'smear campaign'

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Sunday firmly rejected “unfounded remarks reportedly made by the Indian External Affairs Minister (EAM) in an interview with a French newspaper and in interaction with certain other media outlets.”

Spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal in a statement said this outburst is yet another reflection of India’s characteristic hubris and the BJP government’s well-known smear campaign against Pakistan.

“It is deplorable that to further the RSS-BJP extremist ideological and nationalistic agenda, and to divert global attention from the gory reality in IoJ&K, senior Indian officials continue to manufacture “facts” both with regard to the issue of terrorism and the situation in IoJ&K. If anything, Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav is the face of India’s “export” of terrorism to Pakistan,” the statement read.

Similarly, the spokesperson said, India’s frustration is evident from the fact that despite its relentless state-terrorism in occupied Kashmir for decades, it has failed to muzzle the peaceful voices of the Kashmiri people and their demand for self-determination, promised to them in the United Nations Security Council resolutions.

He said: “India also continues to be the safe haven for those preaching hate and carrying out hate crimes, including against its own minorities, with impunity and indeed under state patronage.”

As regards the Minister’s farcical claim that the “situation is back to normal” in the occupied region, the question is why this ‘normalcy’ is not visible to the outside world? For India, there is no escape from the reality that its State-sponsored repression cannot break the will and indomitable spirit of the Kashmiri people, he added.

Dr Faisal said India would be well-advised to move away from its obsession with Pakistan and also from its continued denial of reality.

“Pakistan, for its part, would continue to highlight the plight of the people of IoJ&K and reiterate its call for the peaceful resolution of the international dispute of Jammu & Kashmir.

As a country that has suffered the most from cross-border terrorism, Pakistan would continue to contribute constructively to regional and global efforts to promote peace and prosperity in the region and beyond.”