Building on recent accusatory statements by government representatives, Federal Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Monday claimed that India was helping terrorist groups in Pakistan to carry out “heinous acts”.
In an interview on DawnNews’s programme News Eye, the minister alleged that India “has designs on Pakistan”.
“The Taliban have links with India. Also, India’s involvement in the insurgency in Balochistan cannot be ignored,” he said.
When asked to provide evidence for his claim, the minister dodged the question and proceeded to claim that a low intensity war was underway.
He stated that his allegations were based as much on conviction as on experience.
Public statements against India have been making their way into mainstream media. A day earlier, Adviser to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz had said that India was involved in acts carried out from Afghanistan’s soil in Pakistan.
Asif said that India wants to keep Pakistan busy with skirmishes on the eastern border so that the country remains distracted from the war on its western borders and the terrorism within.
Military sources had also claimed on Monday that one part of US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit would focus on the sharing of intelligence reports and evidence of Indian involvement in subversive activities across Pakistan. The evidence is alleged to credibly identify financial support, training and provision of weapons to militants.
