Sheikh Rashid Rejects Indian Allegation Of Interference In IOK

The Interior Minister has called the Indian allegation as lies, saying that India wants to keep Pakistan engaged on both the east and west borders.

ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-August 10^th, 2021) Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid has rejected Indian claims of Pakistan's alleged meddling in and injection of militants into Indian occupied Kashmir, calling the same as "lies".

Sheikh Rashid has reiterated Pakistan's support for the freedom movement in IoK but made it clear that there was no interference from Pakistan's side and this statement they (Indian officials) have given is wrong.

He stated that allegation represented India's "irresponsible thinking" and was indicative of its intention to keep Pakistan engaged on multiple fronts.

The Interior Minister said: "It means that our suspicions that they (India) want to create problems for us on both the east and west [borders are true],".

He expressed these views while addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Tuesday.

Sheikh Rashid said, "All fencing has been completed so there is no question of any terrorist going into occupied Kashmir," said Rashid, as he urged India to present any evidence to back its accusations.

Rashid rebuttal come a day after Indian Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt informed the Rajya Sabha — the upper house of India's parliament — that there were 33 infiltration attempts at the India-Pakistan border in the first six months of 2021.

Bhatt claimed that 11 infiltrators were killed while 20 had been detained. Rashid, in his press conference, had accused Israel, Indian, the National Directorate of Security (Afghanistan's intelligence agency) as well as the international media to foist blame on Pakistan for the fast deteriorating situation in Afghanistan.

"All these efforts will be defeated," he said as he reiterated that Pakistan had nothing to do with Afghanistan's internal politics.

"Pakistan has given sacrifices of lives against terrorism [and] for peace," Rashid said as he stressed that peace in Afghanistan was linked with Pakistan's own stability.

The Foreign Office (FO) on Sunday had also rejected reports in Indian media that quoted an Indian official as saying that "terrorists are waiting at launch pads to infiltrate" into occupied Kashmir from Pakistan.

Rashid spoke of his plan to visit all four provinces during the month of Muharram, vowing to keep a close eye on security matters. He said he had instructed the chief secretaries and inspector generals of police to arrange "foolproof security" for Muharram processions.

He said cellular and 3g services had been suspended from today till 10th Muharram in the region formerly called Federally Administered Tribal Areas, adding that more security measures were also in the offing.

He said the country's situation required every Muslim to "play their part and exhibit national responsibility".

'Dasu blast investigation complete; Noor Mukadam case suspects on ECL'

The interior minister said the investigation into the Dasu blast was complete as he lauded security agencies for their "fantastic work", adding that the Foreign Office would unveil the report at a time it deemed fit.

Regarding the Noor Mukadam murder case, Rashid said a meeting was held yesterday to discuss the placement of the Names of the suspects on the Exit Control List (ECL). Subsequently, he said, Zahir Jaffer (Noor's alleged killer), his parents and others' names were added to the no-fly list.