Khawaja Asif slams Modi for claims about ‘imaginary’ surgical strikes

Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif on Friday slammed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for repeatedly making false claims about the country carrying out surgical strikes inside Pakistan.

In a series of tweets, Asif said Modi has made repeated claims about “imaginary surgical strikes” either to shore up dwindling public support or because he is being made a fool of by his own army.

In reply to a tweet by another user, the foreign minister said the Indian PM does even know the meaning of a surgical strike after Modi claimed India tried to inform Pakistan before launching the alleged strikes in September 2016.

Asif went on to call Modi a “mass murderer” responsible for sponsoring genocide in occupied Kashmir and butchering religious minorities.

Pakistan on Thursday had also rejected the claims, with the Foreign Office claiming the statements false and baseless.

During a weekly briefing on Thursday, Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal said Pakistan has openly condemned the claims of surgical strikes and that India tried to inform Pakistan before launching the alleged strikes in September 2016. He added repetition does not change false claims into truth.

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Dr Faisal was referring to Modi’s claims made while addressing a session in London recently, when he said India waited to inform Pakistan about “the operation that was launched in 2016”. Modi also said that they carried out the attack after Indian soldiers were killed in an attack from the Pakistani side of the LoC.