India summons Pak High Commissioner, alleges cross-border infiltration

NEW DELHI: Amid the growing strain in ties, India on Tuesday summoned Pakistan’s High Commissioner Abdul Basit and handed him a ‘strong demarche’ over what it claimed Pakistan’s ‘continued support to terrorism by pushing in trained terrorists to carry out attacks, particularly in Kashmir’.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said Islamabad was committed to not allowing the use of its territory for any militant activity against anyone. Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar called Basit to his South Block office and lodged a strong protest over the issue.

“Jaishankar called in the Pakistan envoy and issued a strong demarche on continuing cross-border terrorism from Pakistan. The demarche made specific reference to LeT terrorist and the Pakistan national Bahadur Ali who was apprehended recently in North Kashmir during an encounter,” External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

Ali was allegedly arrested by the Indian authorities in Jammu and Kashmir on July 25 with weapons (AK-47 rifle, live rounds, grenades, grenade launcher, etc) as also sophisticated communication equipment and other material of Pakistani/international origin, according to the demarche.

“Bahadur Ali has confessed to our authorities that after training in LeT, he was infiltrated into India. He was thereafter in touch with an ‘operations room’ of LeT, receiving instructions to attack Indian security personnel and carry out other terrorist attacks in India,” it said.

The demarche mentioned that Ali, in a letter addressed to Basit, had requested legal aid and assistance to meet his family and India was prepared to grant the Pakistani mission consular access to him.

“The Government of India strongly protests against continued infiltration from Pakistan of trained terrorists with instructions to carry out attacks. This is contrary to assurances given by the Pakistani leaders at the highest level,” said the demarche.

Basit was summoned when Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached out to the people of Held Kashmir, which has been witnessing widespread unrest for over a month following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani by the security forces.

Basit turned down the allegations and said India needs to change its attitude. He said the allegations being leveled by New Delhi against Pakistan were baseless adding that Pakistan will not be intimidated by the hollow threats. He said Bahadur Ali was not a Pakistani national. He asked Jaishankar that violations of human rights in the Indian Held Kashmir need to be curbed. Basit told Jaishankar that it was India that sponsored terrorism in Pakistan.

Ties between the two countries have seen growing bitterness after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called Wani a martyr and said "Kashmir will one day become Pakistan — a comment which evoked a sharp reaction from the Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who said the dream of the IOK becoming a part of Pakistan "will not be realized even at the end of eternity".

—Originally published in The News