The Pakistani military has strongly rejected the Indian army chief's allegations against Pakistan regarding Kashmir, calling them "baseless and unfounded".
The remarks, made on January 13 and 14, 2025, accused Pakistan of being the “epicentre” of terrorism and facilitating infiltration attempts into India-held Kashmirt (IHK).
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) and the Foreign Office issued detailed statements refuting these allegations, calling them an attempt to deflect attention from India’s human rights abuses in IHK and its internal repression of minorities.
ISPR condemns 'extreme duplicity'
The ISPR termed the Indian army chief’s comments as an exercise in futility and a classic case of duplicity. It stated that blaming Pakistan for indigenous reactions to state-sponsored brutality in IIOJK has been India’s default position.
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"Insinuating Pakistan as the epi-center of terrorism by the Indian Army Chief, is not only contrary to facts, but also an exercise in futility to beat the dead horse of India's default position - blaming Pakistan for indigenous reaction to state-sponsored brutality. It is a classic case of extreme duplicity," the statement issued on Wednesday said.
It further said that the Indian army chief's remarks were an attempt at deflecting the world's attention from India's brutality in IHK, the repression of minorities within its borders, and its trans-national repression.
"Such politically motivated and fallacious statements reflect the extreme politicization of Indian Army. The world is witness to the India's hate-speech conclaves that provoke genocide against Muslims. International community is not oblivious to India's trans-national assassinations, and Indian Security Forces' oppressive use of force against innocent civilians and gross human rights violations against unarmed Kashmiris," it added.
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The military's media wing suggested that instead of trying to conjure up a "non-existent terror infrastructure" in Pakistan, it would be wise for India not to indulge in self-delusion, and appreciate the ground reality.
"The sobering fact that a senior serving Indian military officer is in Pakistan's custody, caught red-handed while orchestrating acts of terror against innocent civilians inside Pakistan, seems to have been conveniently ignored by the General," referring to the arrest of Indian spy Kulbhushan Yadhav, who remains in Pakistan's custody.
The ISPR further hoped that civility, professionalism, and norms of state-to-state behaviour would guide the conduct of the Indian Army leadership, rather than pandering to political exigencies.
Foreign Office's strong rebuttal
The Foreign Office also rejected the "baseless accusations and unfounded assertions" of the Indian army chief, emphasising that IHK is an internationally recognised disputed territory, whose status must be determined per United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.
“In this context, India has no legal or moral grounds to assert fictitious claims over the territories of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan,” the FO statement read, adding that such rhetoric cannot divert global attention from India's grave human rights violations in held-Kashmir.
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The Foreign Office also criticized India’s provocative statements, stating they were counterproductive to regional peace and stability.
Urging India to introspect, Pakistan called on its neighbour to address its documented involvement in targeted assassinations, acts of subversion, and transnational repression rather than making baseless allegations.
