Pakistan on Monday strongly condemned the "unwarranted, gratuitous and provocative comments" made by Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, levelling "unfounded allegations in the context of terrorism and hurling threats against Pakistan".

A day earlier, Singh claimed that the 1971 war was a reminder that "India’s partition on religious lines was a historic mistake and that Pakistan has ever since continued to engage in a proxy-war against India," The Indian Express reported.

"Pakistan wants to break India by promoting terrorism and other anti-India activities. Indian forces foiled its plans in 1971 and now work is going on to eliminate roots of terrorism by our brave forces. We have won in the direct war, and will achieve victory in the proxy war as well," the report quoted the Indian minister as saying.

In response, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said that Pakistan strongly condemned Singh's "unwarranted, gratuitous and provocative comments [...] questioning established historical facts, levelling unfounded allegations in the context of terrorism and hurling threats against Pakistan".

The FO spokesperson said it was the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) "special forte to misrepresent history, resort to revisionism and delusional thinking and indulge in false bravado".

"Such discourse is particularly evident whenever elections in key states in India are approaching. The timing of the Indian defence minister’s provocative rhetoric is, therefore, not surprising as the BJP-RSS combine is desperate to win elections in Uttar Pradesh and other states, typically inciting hyper nationalism and seeking to advance the extremist ‘Hindutva’ agenda," he said.

"The Indian defence minister’s chest-thumping and war-mongering is nothing but further evidence of India’s irresponsible behavior and its relentless belligerence towards Pakistan," he added.

With regard to the issue of terrorism, "the international community is well aware of how the Hindutva-inspired regime in India is carrying out state terrorism against Kashmiris in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK)," he said.

In November last year, Pakistan also presented a comprehensive dossier with irrefutable evidence of the Indian government planning, aiding, abetting, financing and executing terrorist activities in Pakistan, the FO spokesman said.

"The world is aware that Pakistan is fully capable of thwarting India’s aggressive designs. We have demonstrated our resolve and capability in this regard, including in the recent past," he said.

"The BJP leaders will be well-advised to desist from any ill-conceived misadventure and also stop dragging Pakistan in India’s domestic politics for electoral gains," he said.