‘Whipping up war hysteria’: India rejects Pak claim of prepping new attack

New Delhi, Apr 07: India on Sunday rejected Pakistan's claims of "another attack in April" as "preposterous" and "irresponsible" and said it is meant to whip war hysteria in the region.

Responding to the issue, the Ministry of External Affairs said, "India rejects the irresponsible and preposterous statement by the Foreign Minister of Pakistan with a clear objective of whipping up war hysteria in the region."

"This public gimmick appears to be a call to Pakistan-based terrorists to undertake attack in India. Islamabad needs to take credible, irreversible steps against terrorism rather than making hysterical statements to obfuscate core issue," the MEA statement said.

Earlier in the day, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the Pakistani government had "reliable intelligence that India is devising a new plan". "A new mishap could be staged... And its purpose will be to justify their [India's] offensive against Pakistan and to increase diplomatic pressure against Islamabad," Qureshi alleged.

"If it happens, you can imagine the impact of the occurrence on the peace and stability of the region. According to our information, the action could be taken between 16 and 20 April," Qureshi claimed, adding that Pakistan was preparing to respond.

Hours later, the spokesperson for Pakistan's foreign ministry, Mohammad Faisal, posted on Twitter, "Indian DHC was summoned for demarche in line with FM's briefing of today and warned against any misadventure."

Tensions escalated sharply after India conducted airstrikes against a Jaish-e-Mohammad camp on February 26, days after the February 14 terrorist attack on CRPF personnel in Pulwama. On February 27, Pakistan carried out its own air action against India.