Operating from Afghan soil: FO again asks India to refrain from helping terrorists

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office (FO) on Wednesday said that India must refrain from supporting and sponsoring terrorist groups operating from Afghan soil, including those listed under the UN Security Council sanctions list. In this regard, India should cease its misplaced lament over Pakistan’s successful counter-terrorism measures.

Pakistan also rejects the baseless, misleading, and unwarranted statement issued by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs on Pakistan’s ongoing action against terrorist infrastructure in Afghanistan.

The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tahir Andrabi, stated this in response to media queries seeking Pakistan’s reaction to the statement made by the Ministry of External Affairs of India on 17 March 2026.

READ MORE: Pakistan urges India to avoid stoking ‘terrorism’ from Afghan soil

He added, “Against the backdrop of India’s active sponsorship of terrorism directed at Pakistan from Afghan soil, as well as its historical role as a spoiler, this statement merely reflects India’s bla-

tant hypocrisy and duplicity.”

It must be recalled that this statement emanates from a country whose leadership remains unaccountable despite instrumentalising Islamophobia for domestic electoral gain and perpetrating pogroms against its Muslim population.

FO spokesperson remarked that only a few weeks ago, its leadership pledged full and unequivocal support to another occupying power responsible for the ongoing killing of thousands of innocent Palestinians.

It is preposterous for a state that has historically undermined the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its neighbouring countries, in violation of international law and the principles of the United Nations’ Charter, to comment on the upholding of such principles, Andrabi said.

He added that such statements cannot divert attention from the fact that India has been, and continues to, suppress and deny the right to self-determination of Kashmiris in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, in violation of relevant UN resolutions.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026