After the UN report was released the war of words escalated between India and Pakistan and External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said the international community is well acquainted with the reality that Pakistan is the "nerve centre of terrorism". Also Read| Ladakh Standoff: In Historic First; India, China To Hold Lt Gen-level Talks To Resolve Border Dispute, Douse Tensions Along LAC
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan would do well to recall that their Prime Minister admitted last year that Pakistan still hosts 30,000 to 40,000 terrorists," he said as quoted by ANI.
While speaking in the US Institute of Peace in Washington last year, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan made a startling revelation that his country still has about 30,000 to 40,000 terrorists "who have been trained and fought in some part of Afghanistan or Kashmir".
"Instead of casting aspersions on the report, Pakistan should introspect and put an end to any kind of support for terrorism emanating from territories under its control. UN and the international community are well acquainted with the reality that Pakistan is the nerve centre of terrorism," Srivastava further said.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Pakistan’s Foreign Office had said that India had misrepresented the UN report. “Pakistan categorically rejects India’s malicious allegations, which are aimed at misleading the international community," a Pakistani statement said.
The Pakistan Foreign Office had also said that India was trying to “create complications for the Afghan peace process", with Pakistan highlighting what it called India’s “sponsorship of terrorist organizations in Afghanistan," the Geo news report said.
In response, Indian foreign ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava pointed out,"The UN Security Council’s Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team Report has only reiterated what the Prime Minister of Pakistan has already confessed"
“The UN and the international community are well acquainted with the reality that Pakistan is the nerve center of terrorism. It houses one of the largest numbers of UN-designated terrorists and terrorist entities. Its fallacious attempts to point fingers at others cannot deflect attention from the facts on the ground," he said.
“Moreover, Pakistan’s attempts to create a divide in the traditional and friendly relations between the people of India and Afghanistan will not succeed. The people of Afghanistan and the international community are well aware of who the ‘spoiler’ is, and who is sheltering, training, arming and financing terrorists and sponsoring violence against innocent Afghans and members of the international community," he added.
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