Pakistan rejects Narendra Modi's 'proxy war' claims - Livemint

Addressing the Indian army and air force in Leh in Kashmir on Tuesday, Narendra Modi had said: “The neighbouring country has lost strength to fight a conventional war but continues to engage in the proxy war of terrorism”. Photo: PTI

New Delhi: Pakistan on Wednesday deemed as “unfortunate” and “baseless rhetoric” the comments made by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi that it was carrying on a “proxy war of terrorism” against India, having lost the strength to fight a conventional war against its bigger neighbour.

“The press reports of Indian accusations, at the highest political level, are most unfortunate, especially as the leadership of Pakistan wishes to establish good neighbourly relations with India,” Pakistan foreign office spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said in a statement forwarded by the Pakistan high commission in New Delhi.

“Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ’s visit to India in May (at the invitation of Modi for his oath-taking ceremony) was in this spirit and generated a fresh momentum in the bilateral relationship. It would be in the larger interest of the regional peace that instead of engaging in a blame game, the two countries should focus on resolving all issues through dialogue and work together to promote friendly and cooperative relations,” Aslam said in the statement.

Addressing the Indian army and air force in Leh in Kashmir on Tuesday, Modi had said: “The neighbouring country has lost strength to fight a conventional war but continues to engage in the proxy war of terrorism...”

“How many innocents are being killed? The number of people getting killed through the bullets of cowards is more than those killed in conventional wars,” Modi said on his first visit to the region since taking office on 26 May. He was accompanied by Jammu and Kashmir governor N.N. Vohra, chief minister Omar Abdullah , junior power minister Piyush Goyal , national security adviser Ajit Doval and army chief Dalbir Singh .

India and Pakistan have fought three of their four wars against each other over the Himalayan region of Kashmir since their independence from British rule in 1947.

India also accuses Pakistan of supporting an Islamist insurgency against India in Kashmir, a charge Pakistan denies. The Indian government also blames Pakistan for bomb attacks and blasts in other parts of India perpetrated by Pakistan-based Islamist militant groups, which is also denied by Pakistan.

The exchange of words come less than two weeks before the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan sit down for talks in Islamabad on 25 August to explore ways to carry forward their peace dialogue.

Billed as ‘talks about talks’, it will be the first meeting of the foreign secretaries in two years and flows from the meeting between Modi and Sharif in New Delhi on the occasion of Modi’s swearing-in ceremony on 26 May.