Islamabad: Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid on Tuesday strongly rejected New Delhi’s claims of Pakistan’s alleged meddling in and injection of militants into Indian occupied Kashmir, as he dubbed the accusations “lies”.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Rashid said the allegation represented India’s “irresponsible thinking” and was indicative of its intention to keep Pakistan engaged on multiple fronts.
“All fencing has been completed so there is no question of any terrorist going into occupied Kashmir,” said Rashid, as he urged India to present any evidence to back its accusations.
Rashid rebuttal come a day after Indian Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt informed the Rajya Sabha — the upper house of India’s parliament — that there were 33 infiltration attempts at the India-Pakistan border in the first six months of 2021.
“Pakistan has given sacrifices of lives against terrorism [and] for peace,” Rashid said as he stressed that peace in Afghanistan was linked with Pakistan’s own stability.
Rashid spoke of his plan to visit all four provinces during the month of Muharram, vowing to keep a close eye on security matters. He said he had instructed the chief secretaries and inspector generals of police to arrange “foolproof security” for Muharram processions.
He said cellular and 3G services had been suspended from today till 10th Muharram in the region formerly called Federally Administered Tribal Areas, adding that more security measures were also in the offing.
He said the country’s situation required every Muslim to “play their part and exhibit national responsibility”.
The interior minister said the investigation into the Dasu blast was complete as he lauded security agencies for their “fantastic work”, adding that the Foreign Office would unveil the report at a time it deemed fit.
Regarding the Noor Mukadam murder case, Rashid said a meeting was held yesterday to discuss the placement of the names of the suspects on the Exit Control List (ECL). Subsequently, he said, Zahir Jaffer (Noor’s alleged killer), his parents and others’ names were added to the no-fly list.
