ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Sunday rejected India’s criticism of its counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan, describing the remarks as “absurd, unwarranted and hypocritical.”
Responding to media queries about a statement issued by India’s Ministry of External Affairs, Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi said Pakistan’s actions targeted terrorist hideouts and support bases inside Afghanistan and were legitimate and precise.
“The remarks by the spokesperson of India’s Ministry of External Affairs regarding Pakistan’s legitimate, targeted and precise actions against terrorist hideouts and support bases inside Afghanistan are not only absurd and unwarranted but also shamefully hypocritical,” Andrabi said, according to a statement issued here.
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He said that India has been actively supporting and sponsoring terrorist groups operating from Afghan territory, including Fitna-al-Khawarij and Fitna-al-Hindustan.
According to Andrabi, India’s reaction reflects frustration over the dismantling of what he described as its “terrorist network” in Afghanistan.
The spokesperson further criticised India’s human rights record, accusing it of being a “serial violator of international law” and of illegally occupying Jammu and Kashmir in violation of the UN Charter and relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
He said India had been responsible for “state terrorism” in the disputed territory.
Andrabi also criticised India’s domestic and regional policies, claiming that the country, guided by what he described as “Hindutva extremist ideology,” was marginalising minorities, promoting Islamophobia and weaponising water in violation of treaty obligations.
He further alleged that India has not only played the role of a spoiler in Afghanistan, but also in the entire region.
“With such credentials, India is in no position to make such statements and should instead focus on refraining from stoking terrorism inside Pakistan from Afghan soil,” he said.
The spokesperson reiterated that Pakistan would continue taking necessary measures to defend itself and protect its citizens in accordance with international law, including the UN Charter.
During a heated debate on Afghanistan at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on March 10, Pakistan lambasted India’s criticism of cross-border strikes, accusing Delhi of complicity in the terror threat at the western border.
Pakistan’s Permanent Representative Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad termed India’s remarks as “no surprise”, given India’s “animosity towards Pakistan and the sole objective of its Afghan policy being to destabilise Pakistan”.
He accused India of “actively supporting and sponsoring terrorist groups operating from Afghan soil, such as the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and Baloch Liberation Army”.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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