Pak rejects Indian Army chief’s Balakot statement

Islamabad, Sep 24 (IANS) Pakistan on Tuesday rejected a statement by Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat, in which he said that a terrorist camp in Balakot has been "reactivated".

"Indian allegations that Pakistan is (trying to) infiltrate (the border) are an attempt to divert the international community's attention from the grave violations in occupied Kashmir," said a statement released by Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal.

In February this year, India had said that its Air Force had killed a large number of militants and destroyed a terror camp run by the banned outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad in Balakot, in retaliation to the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 Indian security personnel were killed in Jammu and Kashmir.

Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Major General Asif Ghafoor, said the statement by the Indian Army chief was a "pretext for a false flag operation" or covert strike.

In a series of posts on Twitter, Ghafoor said, "Irresponsible statements by Indian military commanders, particularly about J&K, are expression of their frustration due to their failure to handle situation in IOJ&K and attempts to divert world's attention from Indian state terrorism and siege of IOJ&K."

"Accusations of infiltration/presence of alleged terrorists camps are pretext for a false flag operation/misadventure which if tried shall have serious consequences for regional peace," he said.

Ghafoor added that Pakistan armed forces are fully prepared to respond to any aggression or misadventure by India regardless of the cost.