MEA rejects Pakistan's claim of India's role in train hijacking, urges Islamabad 'to look inward'

India on Friday rejected accusations made by the Pakistan Foreign Office that New Delhi had a “hand” in the devastating Jaffar Express hijacking incident . The Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal released a statement on the issue, calling all the allegations baseless. He said that Pakistan should instead look inwards, calling the country the “epicentre of global terrorism”.

“We strongly reject the baseless allegations made by Pakistan. The whole world knows where the epicentre of global terrorism lies. Pakistan should look inwards instead of pointing fingers and shifting the blame for its own internal problems and failures onto others,” Jaiswal said in a statement on Friday.

India’s remarks on the matter came after Pakistan’s Foreign Office Spokesperson Shafaqat Ali Khan alluded that the rebels involved in the attack on the Jaffar Express were in contact with ring leaders in Afghanistan and claimed that India had its hands in it. “India has been involved in terrorism in Pakistan. In the particular attack on Jaffar Express, the terrorists had been in contact with their handlers and ring leaders in Afghanistan,” Khan said during a weekly press briefing on Thursday.

Taliban also condemned Pakistan’s assertion and made it clear that the Afghani regime had no hand in the attack.

Taliban also rejects Pakistan’s allegations

A spokesperson from the Taliban said that the accusations by Pakistan were “unfounded,” AMU TV reported. “These claims are baseless,” said Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman. In the past, the Taliban has rejected similar accusations from Pakistan, which has repeatedly claimed that militant groups operating in its territory have safe havens in Afghanistan.

As of now, Pakistan security forces claimed that they had eliminated all 33 Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) rebels who had hijacked the Jaffar Express with 400 passengers onboard. However, the Pakistani Army have not released photographs or any video evidence to support their claims, raising speculation.

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Meanwhile, the BLA claimed that ISPR wants to “cover up its defeat”. The militant group insisted that “the battle is still ongoing across multiple fronts”. BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch alleged that the “Pakistani Army has neither achieved victory on the battlefield nor managed to save its hostage personnel.”

He went on to accuse the state of “abandoning its own soldiers and leaving them to die as hostages”. The BLA has also challenged Pakistani authorities and said that independent journalists and impartial observers must be allowed in what they called the “conflict zone”.

With inputs from agencies.