India strongly rejected allegations levelled by Pakistan after Islamabad hinted at New Delhi being behind the train hijacking in Balochistan. Pakistan said that the handlers of the attackers were based in Afghanistan and were allegedly sponsored by India after the Jaffar Express, carrying over 450 passengers, was seized by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) on March 11, leading to a deadly confrontation.
Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said Islamabad had evidence that calls related to the hijacking originated in Afghanistan. He said, “There is no shift in our policy. And again, the facts have not changed. India is involved in sponsoring terrorism against Pakistan. What I was referring to was, in this particular incident, we have evidence of calls being traced to Afghanistan. This is what I said.”
The Ministry of External Affairs said that the claims made by Pakistan are “baseless”. The MEA spokesperson reiterated that the world is aware that the epicentre of terrorism is Pakistan. Islamabad should introspect instead of blaming others for its own internal problems and failures, the MEA said.
MEA said in a statement, “We strongly reject the baseless allegations made by Pakistan. The whole world knows where the epicenter of global terrorism lies. Pakistan should look inwards instead of pointing fingers and shifting the blame for its own internal problems and failures on to others.”
Afghanistan Responds To Pakistan’s Allegations
Afghanistan’s foreign affairs ministry said, “We categorically reject baseless allegations by the Pakistani army spokesman linking the attack on a passenger train in Balochistan province with Afghanistan, & urge Pakistani side to focus on resolving their own security & internal problems instead of such irresponsible remarks.”
