India Monday has slammed Pakistan for claiming links between New Delhi and Monday's terrorist attack on the Karachi stock exchange.
"India rejects the absurd comments of the Foreign Minister of Pakistan on the terrorist attack in Karachi,” said India’s Ministry of External Affairs in a statement.
“Pakistan cannot shift the blame on India for its domestic problems. Unlike Pakistan, India has no hesitation in condemning terrorism anywhere in the world, including in Karachi,” said Anurag Srivastava, a ministry spokesperson.
At least eight people were killed -- including four attackers -- when an attack by gunmen on the Pakistan Stock Exchange building in the southern port city of Karachi was foiled on Monday.
In a statement, outlawed Baloch militant group the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest in a series targeting security forces and government installations.
The Balochistan Liberation Army had claimed responsibility for a similar attack on the Chinese Consulate in Karachi in November 2018 which killed seven people.
Pakistan accuses India for Karachi attack
Pakistan accused India of involvement in the terror attack on the Pakistan Stock Exchange compound.
A statement issued by the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said "the externally-supported cowardly attack is another manifestation of the state-sponsored terrorism being perpetrated against Pakistan, which is highly condemnable. "
"The international community must take immediate cognizance of India’s use of state-terrorism to destabilize neighbouring countries," said Aisha-Farooqui, a spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry.
Farooqui said that her country already shared with the international community incriminating evidence about the Indian Intelligence Agency RAW’s involvement in terrorist activities in Pakistan.
She rejected the Indian Ministry of External Affairs’ comments on Karachi attack and said: “These comments represent nothing but obfuscation and denial. India’s sophistry, however, cannot hide India’s complicity in acts of terrorism against Pakistan.”
Earlier in the day, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi alleged that the attack has links with sleeper cells activated by India.
“Pakistan is opening the Kartarpur Corridor [with India] while India does not seem to stomach peace in Pakistan,” said Qureshi in a statement.
He added, referring to recent border tensions with China: “India is being exposed before the world, like it was exposed on the issue of Ladakh with China.”
Earlier Pakistan's National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf said in a series of tweets that the attack was sponsored by a state that has enmity with Islamabad.
