The Foreign Office (FO) on Saturday rejected the “irresponsible” and “misleading” statement by Indian officials regarding an 'encounter' in Kulgam area of Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK).
The statement by FO spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri comes a day after an Indian police official in occupied Kashmir claimed to have "confirmed Pakistan's involvement" in an attack on an Indian Border Security Force (BSF) convoy.
According to NDTV, the official said that "a Pakistani terrorist" was neutralised during the 'encounter' in Kulgam.
In a statement, the FO spokesperson rejected the allegation, saying: "It is ironic that without any corroboration, the Indian government has once again resorted to leveling serious allegations against Pakistan."
"This is yet another manifestation of the baseless propaganda and smear campaign against Pakistan that is characteristic of the Indian government and an amenable Indian media."
"This is typical Indian strategy to shift blames, employ unfounded assertions against Pakistan as a smokescreen, and [that seeks] to undermine the indigenous struggle for self-determination of the people of IOK," the statement added.
The FO spokesperson said the latest allegations further confirmed what Pakistan had consistently highlighted; that the BJP government "stages false flag” operations to malign Pakistan with terrorism-related allegations for narrow political gains.
“Pakistan calls upon India to refrain from its reprehensible propaganda campaign as no number of Indian falsehoods can succeed in diverting attention from India’s serious crimes in IOK,” the statement concluded.
Pakistan rubbishes Indian statement on Dasu bus attack
Earlier in the day, the Foreign Office took exception to India's "untenable" denial of its involvement in the Dasu terrorist attack.
"We categorically reject the absurd remarks by the Indian MEA, denying India’s involvement in the recent Dasu terrorist attack," the spokesperson said.
On July 14, nine Chinese nationals, two personnel of the Frontier Constabulary and as many locals, were killed and 28 others sustained injuries when a coach carrying them to an under-construction tunnel site of the 4,300-megawatt Dasu hydropower project fell into a ravine in the Upper Kohistan area after an explosion.
The FO spokesperson said Pakistan had repeatedly presented irrefutable evidence of India’s "active planning, promoting, aiding, abetting, financing and execution of terrorist activities" in Pakistan.
"We presented a detailed dossier to the international community last year," the FO spokesperson said. "Recently, we presented evidence on India’s involvement in the Lahore attack."
He further said the most familiar and undeniable face of India’s state-sponsorship of terrorism against Pakistan was Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav — a serving commander of the Indian Navy associated with Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing who was arrested on March 3, 2016, from Balochistan on allegations of espionage and terrorism
The Foreign Office underlined that "India typically resorts to sophistry, obfuscation and re-fabrication", adding that "its bland denials and regurgitation of a false narrative will not change facts."
The spokesperson said Pakistan reiterated its call on India to abjure the use of state terrorism as an instrument of policy. "Pakistan will continue to resolutely oppose Indian machinations imperiling regional peace and security," he added.