ISLAMABAD (MNN); Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) on Sunday strongly rejected Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar’s recent comments regarding Pakistan’s armed forces, calling them highly inflammatory, baseless and irresponsible.
The FO’s statement came a day after Jaishankar claimed that India’s core challenges with Pakistan were rooted in the country’s military establishment.
Responding to the remarks, the FO emphasised that Pakistan was a responsible state and that all national institutions, including the armed forces, formed a key pillar of national security dedicated to protecting the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The FO also referenced the brief four-day conflict between India and Pakistan in May, stating that the episode clearly reflected the professionalism and resolve of Pakistan’s military to defend the nation against any Indian aggression in an effective, firm and responsible manner.
“No level of propaganda can alter this reality,” the statement said.
It described India’s attempts to malign Pakistan’s institutions and leadership as part of a coordinated propaganda campaign aimed at diverting global attention from India’s destabilising actions in the region and its state-sponsored terrorism inside Pakistan.
“Such provocative rhetoric further exposes India’s disregard for peace, stability and neighbourly relations in the region,” the FO added.
The statement further said that instead of spreading misleading claims about Pakistan’s armed forces, India should examine the extremist Hindutva ideology that has led to mob violence, lynchings, arbitrary detentions, and the destruction of religious sites.
It added that both the Indian state and its leadership had become captive to this rise of religious extremism.
Reiterating Pakistan’s stance, the FO said the country believes in peaceful co-existence, dialogue and diplomacy, but remains fully united and determined in its resolve to safeguard its sovereignty and national interests.
