After Pakistan on Friday accused India and Afghanistan of involvement in recent suicide attack on a bus containing Chinese nationals, India responded that it was a desperate attempt by Pakistan at peddling lies. "This is yet another attempt by Pakistan to malign India, in a bid to deflect international attention from its role as the epicenter of regional instability and a safe haven for proscribed terrorists," said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, reported NDTV. "India has been at the forefront of global efforts against terrorism. Such desperate attempts by Pakistan at peddling lies and propaganda will therefore find few takers," he said.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Thursday after the completion of the probe into the July 14 blast that hit a shuttle bus carrying Chinese and Pakistani engineers and workers, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Afghan soil was used and the vehicle involved in the attack was smuggled from Afghanistan.
Qureshi accused India's intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) and Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) of carrying out the attack in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, terming Pakistan and China "iron brothers", Prime Minister Imran Khan emphasised on Friday that "no hostile forces would be allowed to undermine the iron-clad friendship" between the two all-weather allies.
In response to a question on the Pakistani government's updates on the investigation into the case of the Dasu terrorist attack, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said China and Pakistan will follow the important consensus reached by the leaders on both sides, ascertain all the facts and truth, and hold the culprits accountable and bring them to justice. "Terrorism is the common enemy of all mankind. China firmly opposes any force using terrorism to seek geopolitical gains and calls on countries in the region to collaborate in eradicating all terrorist organisations so as to uphold common security and development interests of all countries," Hua said.
-Inputs from agencies
