Pakistan Foregin Office Spokesperson did not implicate India in the train hijack incident but said it was “orchestrated and directed by terrorist ring leaders operating from abroad”.
Islamabad: Pakistan has accused India of “sponsoring terrorism”, without naming New Delhi in the recent train hijack incident that was executed by Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). Twenty one passengers had died in the attack while more thant 30 Pak military personnel were killed
In a press briefing on the train hostage situation that lasted for more than 24 hours, Pakistan’sForeign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan claimed that terrorists were in direct communication with “Afghanistan-based planners throughout the incident”.
He added that Pakistan has repeatedly asked Afghanistan to deny the use of its soil for terrorist groups like the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a report in PTI stated. “We urge Afghanistan to hold perpetrators, organisers, financiers, of this reprehensible act of terrorism accountable and cooperate with the government of Pakistan to bring all those who are concerned with this attack, including the real sponsors of terrorism to justice,” he was quoted as saying.
India strongly reacted to the statement and said that Pakistan should look into its own affairs rather than poining fingers at others.
“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, the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal said.
The BLA had taken Jaffar Express passengers hostage on Tuesday and threatened to “execute” them allif military intervened. On Wednesday, the Pakistan Army announced that all 33 remaining attackers who seized the train in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan region had been eliminated and the captive passengers freed.
On the question of any possible change of policy because India was blamed in the past for BLA’s activities, the spokesman said there was no change.
“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,” he answered.
The spokesperson went on to accuse India for “trying to destabilise its neighbouring countries and running a global assassination campaign”.
