India reserves its right to a “firm and decisive response” to any possible provocation by Pakistan in the disputed Kashmir region, an Indian Foreign Ministry source told Sputnik.
The source rejected Islamabad’s claims about India’s alleged plans to launch an attack on Pakistan later this month as “irresponsible” and “preposterous”, saying that “the only goal of similar statements is to fuel war hysteria in the region”.
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“This public trick is in fact a call for terrorist groups based in Pakistan to stage a new attack in India,” the source argued.
The diplomat urged Pakistan to “take credible steps against terrorist organisations operating in the territories controlled by Islamabad instead of trying to disguise the key problem of the South Asian region — cross-border terrorism”.
“We recommended that Pakistan should use existing diplomatic and military channels to transmit intelligence regarding possible terrorist attacks on us”, the source added.
The remarks came after Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi claimed on Sunday that he has “reliable intelligence that India is planning a new attack on Pakistan” which may take place between 16 and 20 April.
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According to Qureshi, New Delhi’s planned attack aims to “increase diplomatic pressure against Pakistan”.
In a separate development on Sunday, the Indian Deputy High Commissioner was summoned to the Pakistani Foreign Ministry, which warned India against “any misadventure”.
All this comes against the backdrop of ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan over alleged terrorist camps on Pakistani territory which New Delhi insists house militants responsible for the 14 February car-bomb attack at Pulwama, which killed about 40 Indian police officers in Kashmir.
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The 27 February air battle exacerbated New Delhi-Islamabad tensions, resulting in multiple cross-border exchanges of fire and several Pakistani drones allegedly violating Indian airspace. A spate of these drones were reportedly downed by the Indian Air Force.
