Pakistan describes Rajnath, Army chief’s stand on PoK as ‘baseless’

Islamabad, Jan 15: Pakistan on Wednesday rejected what it called the “baseless accusations” and “unfounded assertions” made by India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Chief of Army Staff Gen Upendra Dwivedi.
Singh on Tuesday accused Pakistan of making persistent attempts to destabilise India by sponsoring terrorism and said it must dismantle its terror infrastructure in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) or face consequences.
On Monday, Indian Army chief Gen Dwivedi said Pakistan is the “epicentre” of terrorism and the cycle of violence in Jammu and Kashmir is being “orchestrated” from that country even as he described the overall situation in the Union Territory as “firmly” under control.
In a statement, the Pakistan Army on Wednesday rejected the remarks of the Indian Army chief about Pakistan being the “epicentre of terrorism”. “Such politically motivated and fallacious statements reflect the extreme politicization of the Indian Army,” it said.
Separately, the Foreign Office said that “such rhetoric from Indian leadership cannot divert international attention” from the alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir.
It said that Jammu and Kashmir remains an “internationally recognised disputed territory”, whose final status is to be determined in accordance with relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people. It added that India has no legal or moral grounds to assert claims over the territories of PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan. (PTI)