Pakistan rejects India’s denial of involvement in Dasu attack

By News Desk

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri on Saturday categorically rejected the “absurd remarks” by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) denying India’s involvement in the recent Dasu terrorist attack and called on India to stop using state terrorism as an “instrument of policy”.

On July 14, 12 people, including nine Chinese nationals, working on the Dasu hydel project were killed after their bus fell into a ravine following a blast, which was later determined to be a terrorist attack after traces of explosives were found.

Earlier this week, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the incident had exposed a nexus of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS), and that Afghan soil was used.

“Fully exposed, India typically resorts to sophistry, obfuscation and re-fabrication. Bland denials and regurgitation of a false narrative, however, will not change facts,” Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said in response to media queries.

“Pakistan has repeatedly presented irrefutable evidence of India’s active planning, promoting, aiding, abetting, financing and execution of terrorist activities in Pakistan,” the spokesperson said in a press release.

Pakistan had presented a detailed dossier to the international community last year. Recently, it also presented evidence on India’s involvement in the Lahore attack.

“The most familiar and undeniable face of India’s state-sponsorship of terrorism against Pakistan is Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav — caught red-handed in March 2016,” the statement added.

“We reiterate our call on India to abjure the use of state-terrorism as an instrument of policy. Pakistan will continue to resolutely oppose Indian machinations imperilling regional peace and security,” the spokesperson said.

In the news conference on Thursday, the foreign minister said there are elements which cannot digest Chinese investment in Pakistan. “What do they want? Why did the nexus perpetrate it? We think, there are elements which cannot digest Chinese investment in Pakistan as well as growing economic cooperation,” he added.

“We are clearly looking the traces of its planning and executing meeting with the nexus of NDS and RAW,” he added. He further said the investigation made it clear that the vehicle used in the attack was smuggled from Afghanistan.