India's assertion on Gurdaspur terrorists 'baseless': Pakistan

Islamabad, Jul 30: Pakistan today rejected as "baseless" India's assertion that the Gurdaspur attackers had infiltrated from there, saying such "provocative" comments are a threat to regional peace and security and asked India to share concrete evidence before pointing fingers.

"The Government of Pakistan categorically rejects the baseless allegations made by Mr Rajnath Singh, Home Minister of India, in the Parliament, today," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Qazi Khalilullah said in a statement here.

He said Pakistan regrets the "unsubstantiated and unwarranted assertion that those involved in the Gurdaspur incident of 27 July, had entered India from Pakistan. Pakistan believes that Home Minister’s provocative comments are a threat to peace and security of the region."

His comments came hours after Singh made a statement in Rajya Sabha linking Gurdaspur attack to Pakistan, saying three terrorists had infiltrated from there to carry out the strike.

Giving details of the attack, Singh said, "preliminary analyses of GPS data indicates that the terrorists had infiltrated from Pakistan through the area near Tash in Gurdaspur district, where the Ravi river enters Pakistan."

On July 27, three fidayeen, believed to be members of the LeT, attacked passengers in a bus and stormed a police station in Gurdaspur, killing seven persons, including an SP, before being killed by security forces after a day-long operation.

"We have noted with concern a continuing tendency of India to cast blame on Pakistan for any terrorist incident in India," the spokesperson said, adding that pointing fingers without investigation is not a healthy trend.

"In the Gurdaspur incident, blames were apportioned to Pakistan in the Indian media, even when the encounter with terrorists was still going on," he said, pointing out that immediately after the Gurdaspur incident, Pakistan had condemned the Gurdaspur attack "in the strongest terms".

Khalilullah said Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. "Terrorism is a common enemy of both Pakistan and India. To tackle terrorism, a cooperative approach is required.

Blame game, and finger-pointing would be unhelpful," he added.

"We urge the Government of India to refrain from casting baseless allegations and work with Pakistan to eliminate terrorism from the region and create an environment of peace and amity in South Asia.

If Government of India has any concrete evidence in this case, same may be shared with Government of Pakistan," the statement added.

PTI