Indian troops cowardly targeted civilians along LoC: FM Qureshi

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has slammed India for cowardly targeting civilians on Pakistan side along LoC by violating the ceasefire agreement, ARY News reported on Saturday.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi strongly condemned the Indian aggression along the ceasefire line while addressing a joint press conference alongside Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations (DG-ISPR) Major General Babar Iftikhar.

He said that Indian troops are consistently violating the ceasefire agreement and Pakistan will expose the real face of the Indian government before the nation and the international community.

The foreign minister said that India is upscaling terrorism in Pakistan and had also expressed its illegal steps at different forums. The time has arrived to take the nation and international community in confidence as silence is neither in the national interest nor favours stability in the region.

“Pakistan had made significant achievements in the war against terrorism and paid a heavy price for being a frontline state after 9/11 which must be acknowledged. Pakistan witnessed 19,130 terror attacks from 2001 to 2020 which resulted in killings of more than 83,000 people and injuring over 25,000 citizens. Pakistan also suffered above $126 billion financial loss.”

The foreign minister said that India is allowing its soil for being used against Pakistan besides upscaling terrorism in the country. He said he wants to show evidence irrefutable evidence in the shape of a dossier. He added that the government has much more details which could be used at an appropriate time.

The authorities found Indian hand in the recent terror attacks in Peshawar and Quetta as Indian intelligence agencies were backing the banned outfits in Pakistan.

Outlawed outfits including Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and other groups, which were defeated by armed forces, have been given arms and financial aid by India, whereas, the neighbouring country wanted to increase terror attacks in the months of November and December, said Qureshi.

He added that India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS) are financing terrorists in Pakistan besides training them. He said that terrorists were focusing to target other provincial capitals including Lahore, Karachi and others.

Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that India wanted to interrupt Pakistan’s progress towards the establishment of peace besides creating chaos in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Balochistan province nor willing to see Pakistan as an economically stable state. The neighbouring country wanted to create political instability in Pakistan as well.

Qureshi said that India was the only country which wanted to push Pakistan in the blacklist of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). India funded terrorist outfits up to Rs22 billion and planned to sabotage the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.

He said that India constituted a special cell to target CPEC projects after allocating Rs80 billion funds. Qureshi said that he wants to give a clear message to India that Pakistan is fully prepared to face any challenge. Two security divisions have been deployed at CPEC projects to perform, he added.

While addressing the press conference, DG ISPR said that the country has collected concrete evidence regarding the aggression of India as it is financing terrorist outfits and supplying arms to upscale terrorism in Pakistan.

Babar Iftikhar said that ‘mastermind’ Colonel Rajesh held four meetings with the representatives of terrorist outfits at Afghan embassy for planning terrorist attacks in Pakistan. Indian embassy and its consulate have been turned into hideouts of terrorists along the border, he added.

“[Indian intelligence agency] RAW transferred Rs55,581 through a bank, whereas, $0.82 had been transferred to TTP commanders besides constituting a force of 700 terrorists by spending $60 million. $23.5 million funds were used creating anarchy in Balochistan.”

“Altaf Hussain group had been given $3.23 million. India has been found involved in disrupting peace in Pakistan by assistant different organisations. In the terrorist attack on Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), Indian explosive material and suicide jackets had been used by the attackers. RAW dispatched Rs22 million funds for upscaling terrorism in Pakistan, whereas, its handlers had kept meeting TTP representatives.”

“Arms worth $0.26 million had been given to Altaf Hussain group, whereas, India is running 87 terrorist camps. A former Indian diplomat and military general had visited a terrorist camp in Hajigak, whereas, $30 million was dispatched for establishing a camp in [Afghanistan’s] Kandahar. Four terrorist camps had been established for Altaf Hussain group where 40 terrorists received training.”

“[Outlawed] BLF [Baloch Liberation Front] and BLA [Balochistan Liberation Army] were involved in attacking PC Hotel in Gwadar and a RAW officer Anurag Singh planned the attack. Singh had been given $0.5 million for carrying out the attack on Gwadar’s hotel, whereas, Dr Allah Nazar acted as a communicator between terrorists and India.”

Iftikhar said that India is stirring up anti-Pakistan elements, as well as providing finance, training and arms to outlawed outfits including Balochistan Republican Army (BRA), BLA and BLF through Colonel Rajesh who is residing in Kabul.

The spokesperson of the military’s media also presented the communication letters, evidence of fund transfers to banks in Afghanistan by India besides running an audiotape of Dr Allah Nazar.

He said that an alleged target killing of MQM-L Ajmal Pahari had admitted the existence of four terrorist camps in India in front of the Chief Justice of Pakistan. Indian embassy located in Jalalabad had celebrated the terrorist attack on Army Public School (APS).