India rejects Pakistani claims over deadly blasts
New Delhi called the claims 'baseless,' describing them as an attempt to divert attention from Pakistan's own reputation as a hub of terrorism.
'India rejects the baseless allegations made by Pakistan regarding Indian involvement with the incident in Khuzdar earlier today,' Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswa said. 'India condoles the loss of lives in all such incidents. However, in order to divert attention from its reputation as the global epicenter of terrorism and to hide its own gross failings, it has become second nature for Pakistan to blame India for all its internal issues.'
A bus carrying students was targeted in a blast in Balochistan's Khuzdar district on Wednesday morning, leaving three children among five dead, while several others were injured, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), a media wing of the Pakistan Armed Forces.
❗️"Suicide Blast" Hits School Bus in #Balochistan - Reports of Four Children Dead & Dozens of People InjuredUnverified from #Khuzdar 📹 pic.twitter.com/UwTAzRoKSr
The ISPR alleged that India is utilizing proxy groups as a means to instigate terrorism in Pakistan. 'Having failed in the Operation Bunnianum Marsoos and being hunted by military and law enforcement agencies, these Indian terror proxies are being employed as a state tool by India to foment terrorism in Pakistan against soft targets such as innocent children and civilians,' the statement said.
The ISPR was referring to the military operation it launched against India earlier this month in response to India's Operation Sindoor, which included targeting what New Delhi called 'terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed.'
The incident in Khuzdar is the latest in a series of events that have strained relations between India and Pakistan. The South Asian neighbors engaged in major hostilities after India launched strikes on suspected terrorist facilities in Pakistan-controlled territory on May 7, in response to a terror attack in Indian-administered Kashmir in April. After four days of intense fighting, New Delhi and Islamabad agree to a ceasefire.
India has long maintained that Pakistan harbors and supports terrorist groups, and has called on the international community to take action. Pakistan has denied the allegations and has instead accused India of supporting terrorist and separatists movements inside its territory, including in Balochistan.
The province, bordered by Iran to the west, Afghanistan to the northwest, and the Arabian Sea to the south, has seen decades of violence, including several insurgencies, ever since Pakistan and India gained independence from Britain in 1947.
In March, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) seized the Jaffar Express, a passenger train in Pakistan's Balochistan province, on Tuesday, taking over 400 passengers hostage. Officials in Islamabad have suggested that the handlers of the attack were linked to Afghanistan while simultaneously blaming India for 'sponsoring terrorism against Pakistan' a claim New Delhi rejected.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Russia Today
4 hours ago
- Russia Today
SCO must take ‘uncompromising position' on terrorism
Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar has called on the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to take an 'uncompromising position' on terrorism and stay true to its founding objectives. Speaking at the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers Meeting on Tuesday in Tianjin, China, he said the challenge for the grouping is to stabilize the global order and address longstanding challenges that threaten its collective interests. 'The three evils that SCO was founded to combat were terrorism, separatism and extremism,' Jaishankar said. 'Not surprisingly, they often occur together.' The Indian minister took the example of a terror attack in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in April that claimed the lives of 26 people, mostly tourists. 'It was deliberately conducted to undermine the tourism economy of Jammu and Kashmir, while sowing a religious divide,' he added. 'It is imperative that the SCO, to remain true to its founding objectives, take an uncompromising position on this challenge,' he said. The meeting was also attended by Pakistan's foreign minister, Ishaq Dar. New Delhi has blamed the April attack in Kashmir on Islamabad and struck suspected terrorist targets in Pakistan-controlled territory in response in May. This led to a military exchange that ended in four days with a ceasefire. At the SCO meeting, Dar said Pakistan seeks a 'relationship of peace with all its neighbors,' according to the Pakistani Foreign Ministry. In Tianjin, Jaishankar also called on the SCO members to assist Afghanistan. 'The compulsions of regional stability are buttressed by our longstanding concern for the well-being of the Afghan people,' he said. 'The international community, particularly SCO members, must therefore step up with development assistance. India, for its part, will certainly do so.' The foreign ministers met in the Chinese city to prepare for the 25th Heads of State Council meeting, which will be held on August 31.
Russia Today
5 hours ago
- Russia Today
SCO needs to take ‘uncompromising position' on terrorism
India's foreign minister S. Jaishankar has called on the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to take an 'uncompromising position' on terrorism and stay true to its founding objectives. Speaking at the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers Meeting on Tuesday in Tianjin, he said the challenge for the grouping is to stabilize the global order and address longstanding challenges that threaten its collective interests. 'The three evils that SCO was founded to combat were terrorism, separatism and extremism,' Jaishankar said. 'Not surprisingly, they often occur together.' The Indian minister took the example of a terror attack in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in April that claimed the lives of 26 people, mostly tourists. 'It was deliberately conducted to undermine the tourism economy of Jammu and Kashmir, while sowing a religious divide,' he added. 'It is imperative that the SCO, to remain true to its founding objectives, take an uncompromising position on this challenge,' he said. The meeting was also attended by Pakistan's foreign minister Ishaq Dar. New Delhi has blamed the April attack in Kashmir on Islamabad and struck suspected terrorist targets in Pakistan-controlled territory in response in May. This led to a military exchange that ended in four days with a ceasefire. At the SCO meeting, Dar said Pakistan seeks a 'relationship of peace with all its neighbors,' according to the Pakistani Foreign Ministry. In Tianjin, Jaishankar also called on the SCO members to assist Afghanistan. 'The compulsions of regional stability are buttressed by our longstanding concern for the well-being of the Afghan people,' he said. 'The international community, particularly SCO members, must therefore step up with development assistance. India, for its part, will certainly do so.' The foreign ministers met in the Chinese city to prepare for the 25th Heads of State Council meeting, which will be held on August 31.
Russia Today
9 hours ago
- Russia Today
India, China and Brazil facing ‘consequences' for Russia trade ties
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has warned India, China and Brazil of 'consequences,' if they continued to do business with Russia. Rutte's comment came after a meeting with US Senators on Tuesday, following President Donald Trump's announcement on providing new military aid for Ukraine and a threat to impose 100% secondary tariffs on purchasers of Russian exports , unless a peace agreement is reached within 50 days. 'My encouragement to these three countries, particularly is, if you live now in Beijing, or in Delhi, or you are the President of Brazil, you might want to take a look into this, because this might hit you very hard,' Rutte told reporters. 'So I urge you to make a phone call to Vladimir Putin and convey to him that he needs to get serious about peace talks, because if not, the consequences will have a massive impact on Brazil, India, and China,' he added. Since 2022, India and China have significantly increased their oil purchases from Russia. In May, New Delhi emerged as the second-largest buyer of Russian fossil fuels, with estimated purchases totaling $4.9 billion, of which crude constituted about 72% of the total value, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. The US and India are engaged in negotiations for a trade agreement and are racing to meet an August 1 deadline set by Trump, in order to avoid reciprocal tariffs. Rutte's warning echoes US Senator Lindsey Graham, who in June said that he was working on a sanctions bill that he called an 'economic bunker buster', aimed at the three countries. ❗️NATO Chief Threatens BRICS Nations: If You're India, Brazil or China... Call Putin or Face 100% Secondary Sanctions - RutteNATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has warned those "living in Delhi" that they will get hit very hard if Russia isn't "serious about peace in 50 days."… Indian diplomats and officials have spoken with the Republican senator who sponsored the bill, which has Trump's backing. Since he began his second term in January, Trump has issued direct threats to BRICS and imposed new duties on countries perceived to be aligned with the bloc.
