Dar highlights growing momentum in Pakistan-Russia…

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has rejected allegations by Indian Home Minister Amit Shah linking Islamabad to the arrest of alleged terror suspects in India, describing the accusations as part of a politically motivated campaign against Pakistan. Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi said the allegations were baseless and appeared aimed at shifting attention away from India’s own internal security challenges. He accused New Delhi of using anti-Pakistan rhetoric for domestic political purposes. The remarks followed claims by Shah that Indian security agencies had detained more than 200 suspected militants allegedly connected to Pakistan during a nationwide crackdown across 14 states on August 12. Shah said the suspects were linked to what he described as the Shahzad Bhatti Network and alleged that the arrests had prevented planned attacks. Rejecting the claims, Andrabi said Pakistan had repeatedly faced accusations that he described as part of an ongoing campaign to portray Islamabad as responsible for security problems inside India. The spokesperson also levelled counter-allegations against New Delhi, accusing India of suppressing minorities and dissent at home while allegedly supporting terrorism and destabilising activities abroad. He maintained that such accusations could not divert international attention from what Pakistan considers India’s involvement in terrorism and subversive activities. Andrabi referred to Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was convicted by a Pakistani military court and remains in Pakistani custody, as evidence of Islamabad’s longstanding allegations of Indian involvement in activities against Pakistan. Pakistan called on the international community to reject what it termed unfounded allegations and to hold India accountable for what Islamabad describes as state-sponsored terrorism and destabilising activities in the region. Moreover, Pakistan has strongly rejected what it described as India’s attempt to reshape the history of the 2025 military confrontation through a recently produced documentary on “Operation Sindoor,” calling the production a highly dramatized and factually distorted portrayal of events. In a statement, Pakistan said the documentary relied on selectively edited interviews, emotional narration and cinematic reconstructions to present a version of the conflict designed primarily for domestic political consumption. It argued that the production failed to provide an objective account of the military engagements and instead sought to portray a disputed outcome as an unequivocal Indian victory. Pakistan also questioned the documentary’s chronology surrounding the Pahalgam incident of April 22, 2025. It said India had subsequently claimed that the alleged perpetrators of the incident were identified and eliminated on July 28, nearly three months after Operation Sindoor. Islamabad argued that this timeline raised questions about India’s assertion that the May 7 operation was specifically intended to punish those responsible for the Pahalgam attack. The statement further rejected India’s claim of “100 percent mission success,” maintaining that Pakistani forces had effectively responded to the Indian offensive during what Pakistan refers to as Marka-e-Haq. Islamabad claimed that eight Indian military aircraft were shot down during the confrontation and said Pakistan later launched Operation Bunyanum Marsoos, targeting military installations with precision-guided rockets and missiles, precision air-launched munitions, loitering munitions and artillery. Pakistan said the documentary itself contained admissions that undermined its portrayal of decisive Indian dominance. According to Islamabad, references by Indian military officials to Pakistani missile and drone activity, prolonged engagements along the Line of Control and the activation of Indian air-defence systems demonstrated that the confrontation involved significant military exchanges on both sides. The Pakistani statement also challenged New Delhi’s account of how hostilities ended. It noted that the documentary acknowledged communication between the two countries’ Directors General of Military Operations and an agreed cessation of military activity. Islamabad said this account was inconsistent with portraying the conclusion of the conflict as an unconditional Indian military victory, particularly given the role of international diplomatic engagement in facilitating the ceasefire. Pakistan further accused the documentary of presenting contradictory explanations for India’s approach to escalation. While the production reportedly emphasised surprise attacks, precision strikes and escalation dominance, it simultaneously portrayed India as deliberately restricting the scope of the conflict and offering Pakistan an opportunity to withdraw. Islamabad described the documentary as an attempt to create a politically convenient narrative rather than an impartial military assessment. It maintained that cinematic reconstructions and official claims could not alter the chronology of events, the military engagements or the losses suffered during the confrontation. Pakistan said it had no need to construct an alternative narrative around Marka-e-Haq, arguing that battlefield developments, diplomatic interactions and subsequent statements by Indian officials provided sufficient material for assessing the conflict. Reaffirming its stated commitment to regional peace and stability, Pakistan said its armed forces remained prepared to protect the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. It warned that any future military escalation would receive a strong response, while asserting that no subsequent narrative or media production could change the actual course of events on the battlefield.