‘Attempt to Divert Attention From Kashmir’, Says Pakistan on Army Chief’s ‘Balakot Reactivated’ Remark

In a statement, the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs called General Bipin Rawat's statement 'completely baseless.'

New Delhi: Pakistan on Tuesday rejected as ‘completely baseless’ Army Chief Bipin Rawat’s statement on Monday that Islamabad had reactivated the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) camp struck by the Indian Air Force (IAF) in February.

In a statement, Dr. Mohammad Faisal, the spokesperson of Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), said that the Indian Army chief’s statement was an attempt to divert the world community’s attention from ‘grave human rights violations’ in Jammu and Kashmir. Calling Indian statements and measures a threat to regional peace and stability, the Pakistan MoFA said that India will not be able to mislead the world through these ‘negative’ tactics.

On Monday, addressing an event at the Officers’ Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai, General Rawat said that the Balakot terror camp had been ‘reactivated’. He further said that around 450-500 terrorists are waiting to sneak into India and indicated that India’s response to reactivation of the camp may go well beyond its previous response by means of an airstrike. The IAF had carried out the airstrikes in retaliation to the February 14 suicide attack in Pulwama, J&K, in which over 40 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were martyred after a JeM terrorist rammed his vehicle into their convoy.

Tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours have spiked in the wake of the former’s surprise move, on August 5, to revoke special status of Jammu and Kashmir and end its statehood.