Pakistan Rejects Indian Claim Of Infiltration Using Border Action Teams

The Foreign Office on Thursday rejected India's claims about Pakistan, using its "so-called Border Action Teams" to infiltrate the Line of Control (LoC), saying no such force existed in the country

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Jan, 2019 ) :The Foreign Office on Thursday rejected India's claims about Pakistan, using its "so-called Border Action Teams" to infiltrate the Line of Control (LoC), saying no such force existed in the country.

Terming the allegations as "baseless", Foreign Office Spokesman Muhammad Faisal at a weekly press briefing said India's accusations against Pakistan's military to opt for such tactics, were totally incorrect.

"Pakistan Army is a responsible and professional force, committed to protecting the lives and property of its own citizens and does not resort to such irresponsible provocation," he said.

On the contrary, the Spokesman said "the Indian occupations forces were deliberately targeting civilians in a desperate bid to raise the bogey of external threats".

"India continues with its aggressive and belligerent posturing justifying its ceasefire violations by leveling baseless allegations of infiltration from the Pakistani side," he said.

He said the Indian mal-intent was also apparent from its repeated ceasefire violations instead of using the hotline contact between the two sides.

The Spokesman said Pakistan consistently maintained the smooth functioning of United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) in line with the UN Security Council Resolutions to maintain peace and tranquility.

However, he said India was restricting UNMOGIP's movement in its side as compared to Pakistan that allowed its unhindered monitoring.

On Kartarpur Corridor, the Spokesman said the work continued actively at the Pakistani side with construction of bridge at the River Ravi underway. He said the topographical and hydrological surveys had been completed to materialize the project aimed at facilitating the Sikh pilgrims to their holy shrine inside Pakistan.

To a question on the fate of stalled Afghan talks amid efforts by Pakistan, the Spokesman said Pakistan always maintained that the solution to the Afghan conflict lied in an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process.

He mentioned that Pakistan had facilitated the direct talks between the United States and Taliban and remained convinced that an intra-Afghan dialogue was crucial to peace and stability in the war-torn country.

"Pakistan will continue to support and facilitate Afghan peace process in good faith and as shared responsibility," he said, and added that the ongoing visit of US Special Envoy on Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad to Islamabad after Kabul, was also part of the same reconciliation process.

The Spokesman did not confirm the reports of arrest of a senior Taliban military commander Hafiz Mohibullah in Peshawar.

He categorically said that India had no role in the Afghanistan peace process.

When asked about China's relevance in the domain of Afghan peace process, he said the matter was "sensitive" and the Chinese government was in a better position to respond. However, he recalled that Pakistan along with China had participated in trilateral meetings in Kabul last December, concluding several agreements among the three countries.

The Spokesman said Prime Minister Imran Khan would pay an official visit to the State of Qatar on January 21-22, on the invitation of its Emir to discuss issues of bilateral interest.

In response to a question regarding the Qatar's offer to provide 0.1 million jobs to Pakistani citizens, he said the Prime Minister would also discuss the matter regarding import of manpower.

The Spokesman said Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman would visit Pakistan in February, for which the dates were being worked out. He said the two sides were actively pursuing to finalize the Agreements and Memoranda of Understanding to be inked during the visit.

He said President of United Nations General Assembly Maria Fernanda Espinosa would be arriving in Pakistan on Friday till January 22. During her meeting with the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister, he said the issue of continuous human rights violations in Indian Occupied Kashmir would be taken up from the Pakistan side.

To a question regarding controversy about discrepancy in the visit dates of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to Pakistan, the Spokesman said the Foreign Office pressrelease clearly mentioned that his "official visit started on Sunday." He said the Ministry of ForeignAffairs was onboard regarding the unofficial stay as well.