India on Tuesday rejected as “baseless and unfounded” allegations made by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif linking a terror attack in Islamabad to New Delhi, saying that this was a “predictable tactic to concoct false narratives”.
Earlier in the day, 12 persons were killed and 27 were injured in a suicide bombing outside a court in the Pakistani capital. Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said that the attacker attempted to enter the court premises. After failing to do so, the man detonated the bomb close to a police vehicle.
Hours later, Sharif accused groups “instigated” by India of being involved in the bombing in Islamabad and in another attack in a college in the town of Wana in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Responding to the allegations, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said that the claims were being made by an “obviously delirious” leadership in the neighbouring country.
“It is a predictable tactic by Pakistan to concoct false narratives against India in order to deflect the attention of its own public from the ongoing military-inspired constitutional subversion and power-grab unfolding within the country,” ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
The spokesperson was referring to the 27th Constitutional Amendment that the Pakistan Parliament was trying to pass, which seeks to introduce a new “Chief of Defence Forces” post, among other measures. This would strengthen the control of the Army over the country.
“The international community is well aware of the reality and will not be misled by Pakistan’s desperate diversionary ploys,” Jaiswal added.
Sharif, in his statement, blamed the attack in Islamabad on the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Baloch armed groups, which the Pakistan government claims are sponsored by India.
Islamabad has repeatedly accused Afghanistan of harbouring militant groups led by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan on its soil. Kabul has denied the claim.
Pakistan has also alleged that all terror organisations and groups operating in Balochistan are linked to India.
The Pakistani prime minister claimed that the attacks in Islamabad and Wana were the “worst examples of Indian state terrorism” in the region.
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