New Delhi: In a strong reaction to reported comments made by Islamabad about the Handwara incident in Kashmir, India today said that it doesn’t need any lecture from Pakistan on its internal matters which itself is an epicentre of global terrorism.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup also said comments by a Pakistani provincial minister that legal action against militant organisations in his country was not possible because the state itself was involved corroborated New Delhi's stand.
He said the remarks of Punjab law minister Rana Sanaullah elucidated the reason for lack of effective action even against those entities and individuals against whom Pakistan has international obligation to act, that adding Islamabad must address the "unfortunate reality".
"If the minister indeed said so, it sadly corroborates the view that we have always held about the support and freedom available to anti-India terrorist groups in Pakistan, including internationally sanctioned terrorist groups and individuals," he said.
The Pakistani minister had ruled out the possibility of any legal action against the terror groups saying, the country cannot prosecute a group “with whom the State itself has been involved with".
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"It is upto authorities in Pakistan to address this unfortunate reality in the interest of a normal relationship between our two countries and in broader interest of Pakistan itself," Swarup said.
Asked to respond to Pakistan Foreign Office's reported comments about protests following the Handwara incident, Swarup, in a strong reaction, called Pakistan an epicentre of global terrorism and that Islamabad has no locus standi to comment on such internal issues.
"We do not need lectures from third parties, least of all from Pakistan, which would do well to reflect upon the state it finds itself in, as an epicentre of global terrorism and a country where religious minorities are routinely persecuted," said Swarup.
He said India's robust and vibrant democracy has enough redressal mechanisms to handle such cases.
"The entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. Pakistan has no locus standi in commenting on matters that are entirely internal to the state of J&K and India,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)
