The Foreign Office (FO) on Friday rejected claims made by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) regarding a Hindu temple in Narowal as “false and politically motivated”, adding that the neighbouring country was “distorting facts and resorting to cheap gimmicks”.

According to the government, the over-a-century-old temple in Siraj village had collapsed following torrential rains. A minority rights group, however, claimed that the structure was deliberately razed to facilitate the expansion of an adjoining seminary.

Subsequently, the Indian MEA issued a statement calling on the government to conduct a prompt and transparent investigation, condemning what it called a “reprehensible act of vandalism”.

In a statement shared on the social media platform X, FO Spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan said Pakistan categorically rejected “the false and politically motivated assertions” made by India regarding the temple in Narowal.

He said, unlike the “false propaganda” being peddled by India, the temple’s structure was damaged on July 21 due to torrential rains.

“The local authorities have already surveyed the rain damage and initiated steps for the restoration of the building,” the spokesperson said.

“It is, therefore, shameful that India is distorting facts and resorting to cheap gimmicks,” he added.

The FO spokesperson said the “deliberate distortion of facts” could not distract attention from India’s “abysmal record of systematic persecution of minorities and state-sponsored attacks against their places of worship”.

“The world is well aware of the weaponisation of Hindutva ideology against minorities, and must hold the Indian leadership accountable for the persecution of Muslim, Sikh and Christian communities,” the FO spokesperson concluded.