Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that Pakistan is trying to stay relevant through “terrorism” and “proxy war” but its “unholy plans” will never succeed.
Modi’s comments came at an event to mark the 25th anniversary of India’s short military conflict with Pakistan in the Himalayan region of Kargil. The arch rivals have also fought three wars, two of them over Kashmir.
Modi said Pakistan was humiliated whenever it tried to further its plans but had “not learned anything from its history”.
“I want to tell these patrons of terrorism that their unholy plans will never be successful…Our brave (forces) will squash terrorism, the enemy will be given a befitting reply,” he said.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
India-Pakistan relations have been largely frozen as the two countries downgraded their diplomatic ties in tit-for-tat moves in August 2019 after New Delhi scrapped Kashmir’s special status and split it into two federally administered territories.
Earlier this year, Pakistan said there was credible evidence linking Indian agents to the killing of people on its soil - accusations that India termed “fake”.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said last month that India would look for a solution to cross-border terrorism, which “cannot be the policy of a good neighbour”.