ISLAMABAD, July 3: Pakistan on Wednesday rejected New Delhi’s accusation that it had broken its promise to halt militant incursions into Indian territory, and accused India of lying.
“Frankly I’m taken aback,” military spokesman Maj Gen Rashid Qureshi told AFP.
“I’m surprised he said such a thing because as the president has stated, there is nothing happening across the Line of Control (LoC).”
Qureshi was speaking in response to comments by India’s new Foreign Minister, Yashwant Sinha, that Musharraf had reneged on his word.
Sinha said on Wednesday that the situation at the line of control had returned to pre-May 27 conditions.
In a statement issued later Wednesday, the Pakistan Foreign Ministry charged that Sinha’s remarks were “inspired” by a desire to deflect international pressure on New Delhi to de-escalate tensions.
“The Indian External Affairs Minister had been inspired by the desire to deflect the pressure on India to respond positively to the international community’s call for the de-escalation of tensions and the resumption of dialogue with Pakistan,” the Pakistan statement said.
Sinha told reporters in the Indian capital that several incidents of militants reportedly attempting to infiltrate the LoC this week “proved that the situation has gone back” to what it was before May 27.
Qureshi said there was no truth to the charges.
“I cannot believe that a single fact of that account is true,” he said.
“If the Indians continue to make up incidents to try and renege on what they have permitted, and if this is a way to find an excuse for not starting dialogue, then that is very unfortunate, very very unfortunate.”
Qureshi repeated Islamabad’s long-standing demand that United Nations observers be deployed on both sides of the LoC to provide impartial accounts of activity along the highly contested border.
“We want the UN, which operates on the Pakistan side, to be also allowed to monitor the Indian side so we could be sure there is someone impartial who will be truthful,” Qureshi said.
