Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, : Pakistan on Thursday reiterated that India’s fictitious narrative of victimhood could not hide its involvement in fomenting terrorism on Pakistan’s soil and the state-sanctioned oppression in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan, at his weekly press briefing, said that Indian involvement in fanning terrorism in Pakistan and destabilising Balochistan was clear.
Referring to Indian involvement in global assassination plots, he said that not only in Pakistan, India had been sponsoring such unlawful activities in the entire region.
“Instead of blaming others, India should reflect on its own record of orchestrating targeted assassinations, subversion and terrorism in foreign territories,” he remarked and pointed out that India had not condemned the recent attack on Jaffar Express in Balochistan.
The spokesperson said that Pakistan was alarmed over the increased frequency of Indian leadership’s unwarranted assertions about Jammu and Kashmir.
He said it was India that took Jammu and Kashmir issue to the United Nations in 1948 so it had no right to blame the Security Council and its erstwhile members for the resolutions that were subsequently adopted.
“Repetition of baseless claims cannot deny the fact that Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally recognized disputed territory whose final status is to be determined by its people through a UN-supervised plebiscite, as stipulated in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.”
Shafqat Ali Khan said that a peaceful settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions and aspirations of the Kashmiri people, was essential for a lasting peace in South Asia.
Reiterating Pakistan’s advocacy of constructive engagement and result-oriented dialogue to resolve all outstanding issues, including the core dispute of Jammu and Kashmir, he said peace and stability in South Asia had remained hostage to India’s rigid approach and hegemonic ambitions.
“The anti-Pakistan narrative, emanating from India, vitiates the bilateral environment and impedes the prospects for peace and cooperation. It must stop,” he remarked.
Asked to comment on the reports of the visit of some Pakistani individuals to Israel, he said the foreign ministry had nothing to do with that as the information on the matter was being gathered.
However, he categorically explained that Pakistan’s position on the recognition of Israel and the rights of the Palestinian people was unwavering and unchanged.
