FO rejects India’s ‘absurd and unwarranted’ statement on Pakistan’s cross-border actions in Afghanistan

The Foreign Office (FO) on Sunday rejected a statement made by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs criticising Pakistan’s cross-border action in Afghanistan, stating that the statement was “absurd, unwarranted” and “shamefully hypocritical”. The development comes as Pakistan continues with Operation Ghazab lil-Haq, which was launched in late February following unprovoked firing by the Afghan Taliban from across the border. A day earlier, the Indian MEA’s spokesperson Shri Randhir Jaisal claimed that Pakistan’s strikes in Afghanistan had led to “death of several civilians”, terming it an “act of aggression”. In response, the FO spokesperson Tahir Andrabi rejected the claim, stating that the remarks against Pakistan’s “legitimate, targeted and precise actions against terrorist hideouts and support bases inside Afghanistan are not only absurd and unwarranted but also shamefully hypocritical”.

The spokesperson maintained that India’s “active support and sponsorship” for terrorist groups operating from Afghan soil — Fitna-al-Khawarij and Fitna-al-Hindustan — remained “well-known”. Fitna al Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, while Fitna al Hindustan is a term designated by the state for terrorist organisations in Balo­chistan. Under the above circumstances, he held that India’s “frustration at the destruction of its terrorist franchise in Afghanistan, as reflected in such statements, is quite understandable”. “India, a serial violator of human rights and international law, continues to illegally occupy Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir in violation of the United Nations Charter and relevant UN Security Council resolutions, and has been responsible for perpetrating state terrorism in the occupied territory,” the statement read. Andrabi maintained that under its “Hindutva extremist ideology,” India continued to “systematically marginalise its minorities, spread Islamophobia, and has even weaponised water in contravention of its treaty obligations”. “India has not only played the role of a spoiler in Afghanistan, but also in the entire region,” the FO added. The statement stressed that India was in “no position” to make statements such as the recent one, given its “shameful credentials”. Andrabi urged the neighbouring country to “instead focus on refraining from stoking terrorism inside Pakistan from Afghan soil”. “For its part, Pakistan remains determined to take all appropriate actions in self-defence and to protect its citizens in accordance with international law, including the UN Charter,” the statement concluded. On March 10, during a heated debate on Afghanistan at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), Pakistan lambasted India’s criticism of cross-border strikes, accusing Delhi of complicity in the terror threat at the western border. Pakistan’s Permanent Representative Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad termed India’s remarks as “no surprise”, given India’s “animosity towards Pakistan and the sole objective of its Afghan policy being to destabilise Pakistan”. He accused India of “actively supporting and sponsoring terrorist groups operating from Afghan soil, such as the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and Baloch Liberation Army”. In October last year, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had stated that India was waging a “low-intensity” war against Pakistan from Afghanistan, adding that New Delhi is trying to “settle the score” after facing defeat in the four-day conflict with Islamabad in May, 2025.