ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday vowed to thwart Indian aggression and rejected ‘preposterous’ Indian allegations of infiltration attempts.

“Pakistan categorically rejects baseless Indian allegations of ‘infiltration attempts’ and unfounded claims of targeting of ‘launching pads’ across the Line of Control (LoC). It is obvious that the Indian propaganda machine is in over-drive,” the Foreign Office said.

The FO statement was a rejoinder to Indian media reports alleging that numbers of fighters at so-called ‘launch pads’ along the Line of Control (LoC) had doubled in preparation for an infiltration bid, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s recent statement and claims of targeting ‘launch pads’.

The FO cautioned India against underestimating Pakistan’s resolve to thwart any aggressive design and recalled that the “immediate and effective response” to India’s Balakot misadventure had amply demonstrated Pakis­tan’s will, capacity and preparedness.

“Repeated Indian allegations have one primary purpose: To divert world atten­tion from India’s state-terrorism and grave human rights violations in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IoJ&K),” FO said.

Delhi warned against underestimating Islamabad’s resolve to thwart any aggressive design

Reports in Indian media, which were attributed to Indian security agencies, alleged that 450 fighters from Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hizbul Mujahideen and Jaish-e-Mohammad had assembled at “launching pads” for infiltrating across the LoC.

Rejecting the claim, the FO said India used these allegations as a pretext for a “false flag” operation. Pakistan, it recalled, had been continuously sensitising the international community about such an eventuality and urging India to desist from any ill-considered action.

“India’s belligerence continues to imperil peace in the region,” the FO said.

India has committed 882 ceasefire violations in the first four months of this year in which civilian population living close to the LoC in Azad Jammu and Kashmir has been targeted. A spike in ceasefire violations by India has been witnessed over the past few weeks.

Indian military spokesman had been quoted by Indian media as claiming that “gun areas, launch pads and ammunition” had been targeted in shelling across the LoC.

The FO said India had continued with its human rights abuses against the local population. “In the garb of so-called cordon-and-search operations, the Indian occupation forces in IOJ&K have been particularly targeting the Kashmiri youth. In April alone, 29 innocent Kashmiris have been martyred, including seven since the onset of the holy month of Ramazan”. It noted that Kashmiri journalists had been harassed under the notorious Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

The FO rubbished Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s recent statement as delusional.

“Pakistan rejects the provocative statements of the Indian Defence Minister, including his recent preposterous claim. There is nothing new about Mr Rajnath Singh’s delusions; nor about his belligerent anti-Pakistan rhetoric,” it said.

“As you would have gathered from the operations along the LoC in the last two weeks, we are dominating the enemy through targeted intelligence-based strikes on their launch pads and eliminating them before they set foot on Indian soil,” Mr Singh had said.

The FO reaffirmed Pakistan’s “full moral, political and diplomatic support” to the Kashmiri people till their right to self-determination as enshrined in the United Nations Security Council resolutions was attained.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2020