Jadhav’s arrest proves India sponsoring terror in Pakistan: FO

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office of Pakistan Thursday said RAW agent Kulbhushan Jadhav’s arrest and award of death by a military court was ample proof of Indian-sponsored terrorism in Pakistan. During the ‘Bharat ki Baat Sabke Saath’ diaspora event in London on Wednesday, Modi claimed that before making public the surgical strikes, India had repeatedly attempted to contact the Pakistan government to inform them about the operation.“I said before India gets to know we should call Pakistan and tell them what we did so they can come and collect the dead bodies if they have time. We were calling them since 11am but they were scared to answer the phone. At 12 we spoke to them and then told the Indian media,” he was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

During his weekly media interaction here, Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal said Indian Premier Narendra Modi’s claim of surgical strikes inside Pakistan was a sad political gimmickry and should be a matter of concern for the international community.

He said India could keep repeating such fallacious allegations but they will not become the truth.

“These accusations must not be taken seriously by the international community rather they must take steps to stop Indian atrocities in the Indian Held Kashmir,” he added.

Dr Faisal said widespread protests in India over the brutal torture and murder of Muslim minor girl Asifa in Kathua, IHK was a big failure of Indian government.

He said it was ironic that a country whose highest officials were on record for statements against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan chose to indulge in blatant hypocrisy by twisting facts.

“There is no better example of Indian hypocrisy than the confessions of Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav who was involved in terrorism in Pakistan causing bloodshed in the country,” he added.

Faisal said Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif will visit Beijing from Monday to attend the meeting of Council of Foreign Ministers of the SCO.

The meeting will discuss regional peace and stability besides ways and means to further promote cooperation at different levels.

Responding to a question about the US decision to restrict movements of Pakistani diplomats, the spokesperson said both the sides were engaged and hoped the matter will be resolved.

He said the Government of Pakistan was waiting for investigation reports by the Islamabad Police on the US diplomat involved in a traffic accident in which a Pakistani citizen was killed.

Regarding the Syrian situation, he said Pakistan had categorically condemned the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

“Pakistan stands behind its Syrian brothers and sisters during these hard times,” he added.

He said the Iranian authorities had returned 66 illegal Pakistani immigrants.

He said Pakistan and Afghanistan were trying to minimise their problems through dialogue and recent engagements between the two countries on official level had been beneficial for both sides.

Dr Faisal said that Pakistan had no confusion about its foreign policy.

“Pakistan has always made its own interest the utmost priority and that is the reason we are having dialogue process with different countries,” he added.

He congratulated the nation over the first two days science festival held in Swat on April 18-19.

“The festival saw huge attendance of 1,500 girls and 5,000 boys from more than 130 government and private schools of Swat district.

The students exhibited more than 100 science models, including interactive displays and live experiments, some involving robotics, hydraulics and electrical circuits,” he said.