Pakistan rejects Indian minister's remarks on terrorism

Rejecting the Indian External Affairs minister’s remarks regarding Pakistan's involvement in “international terrorism", the Foreign Office (FO) said the statements "are yet another manifestation of the Indian leaders’ obsession to concoct facts with respect to terrorism for misleading the international community".

Addressing an event on Saturday, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said no other country "practices terrorism" the way Pakistan does.

"We have a neighbour. Like we are expert in IT (information technology), they are expert in 'international terrorists'. It is going on for years...but we could explain to world that terrorism is terrorism, today it is being done against us, tomorrow it will be against you," India Today quoted Jaishankar as saying.

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"No other country practices terrorism in the manner in which Pakistan has done. You show me anywhere in the world what Pakistan has done for so many years against India. After the 26/11 Mumbai attack, it is important for us to be clear to ourselves that this kind of behaviour and action is unacceptable and there will be consequences," the minister added.

In a press release on Monday, the FO said the statements are "a bid to mask India’s own well-known credentials as a state-sponsor of terrorism and a serial violator of human rights."

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The world is also aware of the 'saffron terror' orchestrated and unleashed by the BJP-RSS zealots against Muslims in India," the FO said.

It added that Pakistan’s contribution to world peace, from successful counter-terrorism operations to its role in the global fight against terrorism, is widely acknowledged by the international community.

"In reality, India has been involved in supporting terrorism against Pakistan from its own territory and from other countries in the region," the ministry said.

The press release called upon the international community "to hold India accountable for its patronage of terrorist entities and for instigating unrest in neighboring countries."

Indian External Affairs minister’s earlier comments

Last month, the US approved the potential sale of sustainment and related equipment for the upgrade of Pakistan’s F-16 fighter aircraft fleet, in a deal valued at up to $450 million.

Commenting on this, Jaishankar had earlier said: "It's a relationship that has neither ended up serving Pakistan well nor serving the American interests.

In response, a spokesperson of Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged India to respect the basic norms of inter-state relations and refrain from commenting on the bilateral ties between the US and Pakistan.