FO slams India for harping on terror mantra

The Foreign Office rejected on Wednesday the baseless and frivolous accusations made by the Indian External Affairs Minister, saying that S Jaishankar’s tirade was a reflection of New Delhi’s growing frustration over its failure to malign and isolate Pakistan.

Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in a statement that for last several years, India had engaged in a malicious campaign to mislead the international community through a fictitious narrative of victimhood and vile anti-Pakistan propaganda.

“This practice must stop,” Baloch said, adding that India's continued anti-Pakistan diatribe could not hide its brazen involvement in fomenting terrorism on Pakistan's soil; “nor can it conceal the reality of state-sponsored terrorism in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK)”.

Jaishankar had indirectly referred to Pakistan as the “epicentre” of terrorism while on a tour to Austria. At a joint press conference with his Austrian counterpart, Alexander Schallenberg, on Monday, Jaishankar also referred to “cross-border practises” of terrorism.

Later in the day, in an interview with Austria’s national broadcaster, Jaishankar was asked that the use of the word “epicentre doesn’t sound very diplomatic”. He replied that he “could use much harsher words than epicentre, considering what has been happening to us”.

Spokesperson Baloch said that India, instead of pointing fingers at others, should itself end its involvement in terrorism, subversion and espionage against Pakistan. Only a few weeks ago, a dossier was released containing irrefutable evidence that substantiated India's involvement in the 2021 terrorist attack in a peaceful Lahore neighbourhood, she reminded.

She further said that from the death of over 40 Pakistani nationals on Indian soil in the 2007 Samjhota Express tragedy to the arrest of Kulbhushan Jadhav, a serving Commander of Indian Navy, from within Pakistan in 2016, the evidence of Indian involvement in terrorism and sabotage was irrefutable and spans over decades and geographies.

In a separate statement, the Foreign Office spokesperson “strongly condemned the insensitive and provocative visit” of Israel’s new far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to the Al Aqsa mosque compound a day earlier.

“Al Aqsa is a holy site revered by Muslims around the world. Violation of its sanctity offends the religious sensitivities of Muslims and inflames an already tense situation in the occupied Palestinian territories,” the statement said.

The Israeli minister had justified his 15-minute visit by tweeting that the “Temple Mount is open to all” while using the Jewish name for the site. Video footage showed him strolling at the periphery of the compound, surrounded by a heavy security detail and flanked by a fellow Orthodox Jew.

Reiterating Pakistan’s “strong support for the legitimate struggle of the Palestinian people”, the Foreign Office spokesperson demanded that “Israel must cease its illegal actions and respect the sanctity of Muslim religious sites in the occupied Palestinian territories.”