The Foreign Office on Sunday flayed the remarks of India’s Ministry of External Affairs about Pakistan’s legitimate, targeted and precise actions against terrorist hideouts and support bases inside Afghanistan, as ‘not only absurd and unwarranted but also shamefully hypocritical.’

Responding to media queries regarding Pakistan’s response to the statement issued by the Indian ministry, the Foreign Office spokesperson, Tahir Andrabi, in a press statement, said India’s active support and sponsorship of terrorist groups operating from Afghan soil, including Fitna Al Khawarij and Fitna Al Hindustan, are well known.

“Therefore, India’s frustration at the destruction of its terrorist franchise in Afghanistan, as reflected in such statements, is quite understandable,” he added.

The spokesperson said India, a serial violator of human rights and international law, continued to illegally occupy Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir in violation of the UN Charter and relevant UN Security Council resolutions, and had been responsible for perpetrating state terrorism in the occupied territory.

“Guided by Hindutva extremist ideology, it also continues to marginalise its minorities systematically, spread Islamophobia, and has even weaponised water in contravention of its treaty obligations. India has not only played the role of a spoiler in Afghanistan, but also in the entire region,” he added.

With such shameful credentials, the spokesperson further said: “India is in no position to make such statements and must instead focus on refraining from stoking terrorism inside Pakistan from Afghan soil.”

For its part, he reiterated that Pakistan remained determined to take all appropriate actions in self-defence and to protect its citizens in accordance with international law, including the UN Charter.