NEW DELHI — India on Thursday said it has information that Pakistan is trying to infiltrate terrorists into the country to carry out attacks amid rising tensions over New Delhi’s decision to abrogate the autonomy of Indian-administered Kashmir.
External Affairs Ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar told reporters that Indian security forces were prepared to deal with any eventuality.
He was reacting to Indian media reports that cited unidentified Indian intelligence sources as saying Pakistan-trained commandos have entered Indian waters to attack port facilities in western Gujarat state.
He said Pakistan is trying to infiltrate terrorists to create an alarmist situation after New Delhi imposed a lockdown and ended Indian-controlled Kashmir’s autonomy early this month.
In Pakistan, military spokesman Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor rejected the Indian claims, saying Pakistan was a responsible state and “we would be insane to allow infiltration” across the Line of Control dividing Kashmir between the two countries.
Kumar said Pakistan “has been using terror and cross-border terrorism as a policy. We have continued to highlight that Pakistan has an obligation to take action against terrorist and terror groups operating from its soil.”
India accuses Pakistan of training and arming insurgent groups that have been fighting since 1989 for Kashmir’s independence from India or its merger with Pakistan, a charge Islamabad denies. Pakistan says it only provides moral and diplomatic support to these groups.
Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since they won independence from British colonialists in 1947. They have fought two wars over its control.
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Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Pakistan, contributed to this report.
The Associated Press