New Delhi: India on Sunday forcefully dismissed Pakistan’s allegations of an Indian link to a deadly militant attack on a paramilitary military base in Karachi. The Ministry of External Affairs strictly rejected the claims, advising the neighbouring country to focus on dismantling the extensive terror networks operating within its own borders instead of shifting blame.
The diplomatic friction follows a brazen weekend assault where heavily armed militants targeted the Sindh Rangers’ Bhittai Wing headquarters in Karachi’s Gulistan-e-Jauhar area. The attackers launched the assault on Saturday night by ramming an explosives-laden vehicle into the compound’s main gate, triggering a fierce ninety-minute gun battle. Paramilitary troops, reinforced by Special Security Unit commandos and the Anti-Terrorist Force, successfully eliminated six terrorists and captured one injured attacker alive, though four Rangers personnel were killed in the line of duty.
Responding to subsequent statements by Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and the country’s military establishment alleging an Indian connection, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that New Delhi categorically rejects the baseless claims. He emphasized that Pakistan would serve its own interests better by looking inward, taking credible action against the deep-rooted terror infrastructure on its territory, and ridding itself of its long-standing tendency to utilize terrorism as an instrument of state policy.
The assault, which was later claimed by the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar militant group, marks the first major terrorist strike in Karachi since October 2024. Indian officials reiterated that such unfounded finger-pointing by Islamabad remains an attempt to deflect attention from its own internal security and governance challenges.
