Pakistan on Monday strongly condemned the “unwarranted, gratuitous and provocative” comments made by the Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at an event in New Delhi on Sunday.
Singh had termed the partition of India on religious lines a historic mistake, claiming that “Pakistan has ever since continued to engage in a proxy war against India”.
“Pakistan was born in the name of one religion but it could not remain one. After the defeat of 1971, our neighbouring country is constantly waging a proxy war in India,” Singh alleged.
FO, in its statement, said that the Indian defence minister questioned established historical facts, levelling unfounded allegations in the context of terrorism, and hurling threats against Pakistan.
“It is the BJP’s special forte to misrepresent history, resort to revisionism and delusional thinking, and indulge in false bravado. Such discourse is particularly evident whenever elections in key states in India are approaching,” the FO spokesperson said.
He said that the timing of the Indian defence minister’s provocative rhetoric is not surprising, as the BJP-RSS combine is desperate to win elections in Uttar Pradesh and other states, typically inciting hyper-nationalism and seeking to advance the extremist ‘Hindutva’ agenda.
“The Indian defence minister’s chest-thumping and war-mongering is nothing but further evidence of India’s irresponsible behaviour and its relentless belligerence towards Pakistan,” the statement added.
With regards to the issue of terrorism, the spokesperson said, the international community is well aware of how the Hindutva-inspired regime in India is carrying out state-terrorism against the Kashmiris in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).