Pak. Minister’s comment absurd: India

Qureshi said Afghan and Indian operatives were behind Dasu incident

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s most recent comments on the incident at Dasu hydel power project is “absurd”, India said on Friday.

The comments from the Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs came in response to Mr. Qureshi’s allegation that the incident, in which nine Chinese citizens were among the casualties, was carried out by Afghan and Indian intelligence operatives.

“We have seen reports on the absurd comments made by Foreign Minister of Pakistan on the incident in Dasu. This is yet another attempt by Pakistan to malign India, in a bid to deflect international attention from its role as the epicentre of regional instability and a safe haven for proscribed terrorists,” said Arindam Bagchi.

The incident took place on July 14 when a bus travelling near the Dasu hydroelectricity project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan fell into a gorge allegedly after an explosion. Mr. Qureshi argued that there was a suicide bomber nearby who was used to carry out the operation. “We can clearly see the nexus of Afghanistan’s NDS and India’s RAW in planning and execution of the attack,” Mr. Qureshi was quoted as having said in The Dawn.

Mr. Bagchi maintained that India had been in the “forefront” of global efforts against terrorism. “Such desperate attempts by Pakistan at peddling lies, propaganda, will therefore find few takers,” said Mr. Bagchi.

China’s Foreign Ministry in a statement on Friday commended Pakistan’s investigation, but added the process was “still ongoing” and did not directly comment on the unsubstantiated Pakistani claims alleging Indian and Afghan involvement.

The Foreign Ministry in Beijing posted a “question and answer” on its website on the investigations. The question alluded to the claims, saying the Pakistani government’s “updates” mentioned “the terrorist network the attacker is associated with has received support from Indian and Afghan intelligence agencies”. That reference was subsequently repeated in several Chinese media reports.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said in response that the investigation “has seen major progress within a short period of time” and China “expresses appreciation to Pakistan’s active efforts”.

“Further investigation by Pakistan is still ongoing at the moment,” Ms. Hua said, without directly mentioning the claims of Indian or Afghan involvement, but adding that “China firmly opposes any force using terrorism to seek geopolitical gains and calls on countries in the region to collaborate in eradicating all terrorist organisations so as to uphold common security and development interests of all countries”.

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