India is using Afghanistan to conspire against the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal alleged on Thursday. He added that Islamabad will foil India’s attempts with people’s support, Dawn reported.
The minister’s statement comes days after China said it was considering extending the corridor into Afghanistan. Beijing had announced the plan on Tuesday after a trilateral meeting with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
India has reiterated repeatedly that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the One Belt, One Road project does not respect its territorial integrity. Parts of the corridor would run through the disputed Pakistan-occupied Kashmir region.
Iqbal also accused India of violating the ceasefire along the Line of Control and killing three Pakistani soldiers the same day Pakistan “allowed” the mother and wife of former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav to meet “on humanitarian grounds”.
India has criticised Pakistan of ill-treating Jadhav’s family during their visit. Pakistani authorities confiscated his wife Avanti Jadhav’s shoes alleging there was “something” inside them. Delhi said Islamabad had used their meeting as a propaganda tool. Pakistan has denied insulting the two women during their trip.
Regarding the cross-border firing, the Indian Army claimed its troopers had crossed the border and targeted Pakistani posts near the Rukh Chakri sector in Rawalakot. The strike was carried out a day after four Indian Army soldiers were killed after the Pakistani Army allegedly violated the ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district.
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