New Delhi: India has “unequivocally” rejected allegations linking it to the terrorist attack in Islamabad, calling the claims “unfounded” and concocted by a “delirious” Pakistani leadership.
“India unequivocally rejects the baseless and unfounded allegations being made by an obviously delirious Pakistani leadership. It is a predictable tactic by Pakistan to concoct false narratives against India,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement Tuesday.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was quick to allege that the terrorist attack outside a court complex in Islamabad Tuesday was conducted by groups with “active Indian support”. Sharif further linked another attack against a military-run college in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as being supported by New Delhi.
India called these allegations an attempt to “deflect the attention of its own [Pakistani] public from the ongoing military-inspired constitutional subversion and power-grab unfolding within the country.”
Jaiswal added: “The international community is well aware of the reality and will not be misled by Pakistan’s desperate diversionary ploys.”
At least 12 people were killed when a suicide bomber launched an attack outside a court complex in Islamabad Tuesday. Hours before the attack in Islamabad, militants attempted to take cadets hostage at the military-run college in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK). The government claims to have foiled the attack in KPK that began with a bomber attacking the college before militants attempted to enter the complex.
The Pakistani government is also attempting to push through the 27th Amendment to its constitution, which could potentially further entrench Field Marshal Asim Munir’s power within the country a mere six months after Operation Sindoor. The Pakistani opposition has vowed to fight the amendments.
The amendment proposed in the Senate will redefine the power structures and hierarchy within the Pakistani military, overhauling the country’s judiciary and expanding the remit of executive power.
The amendment would see the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), in this case Munir, become the head of its tri-services with the abolishment of the position of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Furthermore it enshrines lifetime status and constitutional protection for officers who hold the ranks of Field Marshal, Marshal of the Air Force and Admiral of the Fleet.
On Monday, the Senate approved the constitutional amendment amid criticism that it would make the civilian government subservient to the powerful army.
Pakistan, meanwhile, remains the only country in the neighbourhood that is silent on the explosion that rocked New Delhi late Monday evening. A number of governments including the Taliban regime in Kabul and Bangladesh’s interim government have expressed condolences over the attack that killed at least 12 people.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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