Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that Pakistan was trying to maintain its relevance through “terror” and a “proxy war” but its “immoral designs” would inevitably fail.
The nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours have a tense relationship, with India accusing Pakistan of backing Islamist militants fighting for control of the decades-old Kashmir region, which both countries claim full and partial control over.
Pakistan denies the accusations and says it is only offering diplomatic and moral support to Kashmiris seeking self-determination in the Muslim-majority region.
Modi’s remarks came at an event marking 25 years since India and Pakistan fought a brief military conflict in the Kargil region of the Himalayas. The two countries have fought three wars, two of them over Kashmir.
His remarks also came in the wake of a series of militant attacks in Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir that have left nearly 10 Indian soldiers dead this year.
Modi said Pakistan was humiliated every time it tried to push ahead with its plans but “it has not learnt anything from history”.
“I want to tell the sponsors of terrorism that their evil plans will never succeed…Our valiant forces will eradicate terrorism and the enemy will receive a fitting retribution,” he declared.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Relations between India and Pakistan have been at a near standstill since the two countries downgraded diplomatic ties in August 2019 after New Delhi stripped Kashmir of its special status and divided it into two union territories.
Tensions further escalated after a suicide bomb attack on an Indian army convoy in Kashmir was linked to Pakistan-based militants, leading India to carry out airstrikes on what it said was a militant base in Pakistan.
Earlier this year, Pakistan claimed it had credible evidence that Indian agents were involved in the killings on its territory, a claim India rejected as “falsehood.”
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said last month that India was seeking solutions to cross-border terrorism but that “it cannot be a good neighbour policy”.
Nancy Mbamar
Source: Reuters
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