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Tahir Andrabi speaking at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs weekly press conference Photo file: X/FO
ISLAMABAD:
The Ministry of External Affairs on Wednesday rejected what it termed as “baseless, misleading and unjustified” comments by India’s Ministry of External Affairs on Pakistan’s ongoing action against terror infrastructure in Afghanistan.
Pakistan has been carrying out airstrikes against terrorist targets in Afghanistan as part of the now temporarily paused Operation Ghazab Lil Haq. On Tuesday, Taliban regime deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat claimed in a post on X that an airstrike had hit the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital, killing up to 400 people in the Afghan capital overnight.
However, Pakistan strongly rejected the Afghan Taliban’s claims, calling them “completely baseless” and part of a broader pattern of disinformation aimed at distorting facts.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar had said the attacks carried out on the night of March 16 were “precise, deliberate and professional”, and targeted only military and terrorist infrastructure linked to attacks inside Pakistan.
Responding to India’s statement, spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said: “Pakistan rejects the baseless, misleading and unjustified statement issued by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs regarding Pakistan’s ongoing actions against terrorist infrastructure in Afghanistan.
“Against the backdrop of India’s active sponsorship of terrorism directed against Pakistan from Afghan soil, as well as its historical role as a saboteur, this statement simply reflects India’s blatant hypocrisy and duplicity.”
He said it must be remembered that the Indian leadership remains unaccountable despite “instrumentalizing Islamophobia for internal electoral gains and perpetrating pogroms against its Muslim population.”
The spokesman said that just a few weeks ago, its leaders pledged full and unequivocal support for “another occupying power responsible for the ongoing slaughter of thousands of innocent Palestinians,” apparently referring to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s expression of solidarity during a visit to Israel.
“It is absurd that a State that has historically undermined the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its neighboring countries, in violation of international law and the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, comments on the defense of such principles.
“Such statements cannot divert attention from the fact that India has been, and continues, repressing and denying the right to self-determination of Kashmiris in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir in violation of relevant UN resolutions,” it said.
He said India must refrain from supporting and sponsoring terrorist groups operating from Afghan soil, including those on the UN Security Council sanctions list.
“In this regard, India should stop unjustifiably lamenting Pakistan’s successful counter-terrorism measures,” the statement concluded.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s spokesperson for foreign media, Mosharraf Zaidi, refuted the Afghan Taliban’s claims of attacking a hospital and civilians, adding that Pakistan’s recent attacks in Afghanistan were aimed solely at terrorists and were based on accurate intelligence, driven entirely by the need to protect its citizens, state broadcaster Pakistan TV reported.
