By: Chandrashekar Bhat
A DAY after India dismissed as “lies” Pakistan’s allegations of Indian intelligence support to a deadly bus bombing in the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad on Saturday (14) said it will not accept New Delhi’s denial of its role in the attack.
At least 13 people, including nine Chinese engineers, were killed in the suicide attack in the Dasu area of Upper Kohistan district last month following which Pakistan had ordered an investigation.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad on the completion of the probe, Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi accused India’s Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) and Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS) of carrying out the attack.
India on Friday (13) described as “lies” Pakistan’s allegations of Indian intelligence support to the bombing and said it is an attempt to deflect global attention from Islamabad’s role as the “epicentre” of regional instability and a “safe haven” for proscribed terrorists.
“We have seen reports on the absurd comments made by the foreign minister of Pakistan on the incident in Dasu,” Indian external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in New Delhi.
“This is yet another attempt by Pakistan to malign India, in a bid to deflect international attention from its role as the epicentre of regional instability and a safe haven for proscribed terrorists,” he said.
“Such desperate attempts by Pakistan at peddling lies and propaganda will therefore find few takers,” he said.
Reacting to India’s sharp reaction, Pakistan’s foreign office said it categorically rejects the MEA’s remarks in connection with the bus blast.
It said Pakistan has repeatedly presented “irrefutable evidence of India’s active planning, promoting, aiding, abetting, financing and execution of terrorist activities” in Pakistan.
“We presented a detailed dossier to the international community last year. Recently, we presented evidence on India’s involvement in the Lahore attack,” it said.
