The Foreign Office (FO) rejected and condemned on Sunday the “highly inflammatory, baseless and irresponsible” remarks by Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar about Pakistan’s armed forces, terming them “misleading”.

The FO’s condemnation came a day after Jaishankar alleged that India’s core challenges with its neighbouring country stemmed directly from Pakistan’s military establishment.

In its reaction to his remarks, the FO underscored that Pakistan was a responsible state, and all its institutions, including armed forces, were a pillar of national security, dedicated to safeguarding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country.

The FO’s statement also referred to a brief four-day conflict between India and Pakistan in May, saying that it “vividly demonstrated Pakistan armed forces’ professionalism as well as their resolve to defend the motherland and the people of Pakistan against any Indian aggression in a befitting, effective yet responsible manner”.

“No amount of propaganda can belie this truth,” the statement added.

It labelled attempts by the Indian leadership to defame Pakistan’s state institutions and its leadership as “part of a propaganda campaign designed to distract attention from India’s destabilising actions in the region and beyond, as well as state-sponsored terrorism in Pakistan”.

“Such incendiary rhetoric only exemplifies the extent of India’s disregard for amity, peace and stability in our region.”

The statement said that instead of making misleading remarks about the armed forces of Pakistan, “India must investigate the fascist and revisionist Hindutva ideology that has unleashed a reign of mob justice, lynchings, arbitrary detentions and demolition of properties and places of worship”.

Indian state and leadership both had become “hostage of this terror in the name of religion,” it added.

The statement further stressed that “Pakistan believes in co-existence, dialogue and diplomacy. However, it stands united and resolute in its intent and ability to safeguard its interests and sovereignty”.