India on Thursday slammed Pakistan and dismissed its National Security Advisor (NSA) Moeed Yusaf claims that New Delhi reached out to Islamabad for talks. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said that the Pakistan NSA’s comments were “contrary to facts on the ground, misleading and fictitious”.
Srivastava added, “As regards the purported message, let me make it clear that no such message was sent from our side.” In an interview, Pakistani NSA had claimed that India had expressed “desire” for talks.
The MEA explained that these are Pakistan’s “effort to divert attention from domestic failures of the present government and mislead its domestic constituents by pulling India into headlines on a daily basis”.
The spokesperson added that “his establishment (should) not to comment on India’s domestic policy.” The comments by Pakistan NSA comes even as opposition in Pakistan plans massive rally against the Imran Khan government. The first such rally will happen on October 16 (Friday).
He said, “We’ve seen reports on the interview of senior Pakistani official to an India media outlets and he commented on India’s internal matters. As always, this is Pakistan’s efforts to divert attention from domestic failures and mislead its domestic constituents by pulling India into headlines.”
“The official is advised to restrict his advise to his establishment & to not comment on India’s domestic policies. His statements are contrary to facts, misleading & fictitious. With regard to the purported message that was referred to, no such message was sent from our side,” the MEA added.
India also highlighted Pakistan’s support to “cross-border terrorism against India” with the country “resorting to unprovoked ceasefire violations to support terrorist infiltration.”
He added,” The Pakistani leadership continues to indulge in inappropriate, provocative and hate speech against India. Such support to terrorism against India and the use of derogatory and abusive language is not conducive to normal neighbourly relations.”
No formal India Pakistan talks have happened in many years. Indian Prime Minister Modi tried to initiate peace with Islamabad during his famous stopover in Lahore in 2015 but this was followed by Pathankot terror by Pakistan based terrorist groups.
In a major snub to China, the MEA on Thursday said that the Union Territories of Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir and the north-eastern state Arunachal Pradesh have been, are and would always remain an “integral part of India.” The MEA also said that “China has no locus standi to comment on India’s internal matters,” days after Beijing remarked that it “does not recognise the UT of Ladakh, illegally set up by India.”
