Is India Behind Train Hijacking Incident In Pakistan's Balochistan? New Delhi Responds

India on Friday rejected the allegations made by Pakistan that New Delhi was behind the recent train hijacking incident in Balochistan.

India Reacts To Pakistan's Allegations

In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs called Pakistan's allegations as "baseless". "We strongly reject the baseless allegations made by Pakistan. The whole world knows where the epicenter of global terrorism lies. Pakistan should look inwards instead of pointing fingers and shifting the blame for its own internal problems and failures on to others,' the statement read.

The Train Hijacking Incident

On March 11, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) hijacked the Jaffar Express, a Pakistani passenger train travelling from Quetta to Peshawar. The train was carrying 450 passengers on board. The deadly confrontation between the separatist militant group and the Pakistani army resulted in 58 dead, including 21 passengers, four soldiers, and all 33 militants.

On Thursday, Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan claimed that Islamabad had evidence on Afghanistan's involvement in the incident. When asked why Pakistan has shifted its stance from India to Afghanistan, he said, "There is no shift in our policy. And again, the facts have not changed. India is involved in sponsoring terrorism against Pakistan. What I was referring to was, in this particular incident, we have evidence of calls being traced to Afghanistan. This is what I said."

Afghanistan Responds To Pak's Allegations

Responding to the allegations, Afghanistan's foreign affairs ministry said, "We categorically reject baseless allegations by the Pakistani army spokesman linking the attack on a passenger train in Balochistan province with Afghanistan, & urge Pakistani side to focus on resolving their own security & internal problems instead of such irresponsible remarks."

India and Pakistan's relationship hit a new low after the Pulwama attack and the abrogation of Article 371 in 2019 by PM Modi's BJP government.