‘uri attack a reactioN to iNdiaN atrocities’

LONDON: The terror attack on an Indian army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir could be a backlash to the “atrocities” in Indian-administered Kashmir, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said late on Friday. “The Uri attack can be the reaction of the atrocities in Kashmir, as the close relatives and near and dear ones of those killed and blinded over the last two months were hurt and outraged,” Sharif told reporters in London, where he stopped on his way back from the UN General Assembly session in New York. The Premier rejected the Indian allegations on the 18 September Uri attack as “irresponsible” and “without any evidence”. Eighteen Indian soldiers were killed in the terror attack, which India has blamed on Pakistan-based militants. Sharif also wondered how India had hurled accusations against Pakistan only hours after the Uri incident without holding any inquiry or investigation. “How could India accuse Pakistan only hours after the Uri incident without holding any inquiry or investigation? This is not reasonable,” Sharif was quoted as saying. He said that New Delhi should have held an inquiry and waited for the findings before pointing fingers at Islamabad. He further alleged that “the whole world knows about Indian atrocities in Jammu and Kashmir”. Talking about peace between the two countries, Nawaz deemed it “impossible without the resolution of Jammu and Kashmir dispute”, Pakistan Today reported. government to combat terrorism,” the statement said.

Asked if the US had been in contact with the governments of Pakistan and India for defusing tensions between them, a State Department spokesperson said Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken had spoken with Indian Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, “expressed our condolences for the victims of the attack and their fami- lies, and offered assistance with the investigation”.

The spokesperson said US Secretary of State John Kerry had met Prime Minister Sharif at the UN and discussed the Uri incident. “The secretary urged Pakistani cooperation in the investigation,” the US official added.

The official added: “We encourage India and Pakistan to continue to engage in direct dialogue aimed at reducing tensions.”

Meanwhile, an opposition lawmaker said the prime minister should have straightway headed back to the country at a time when India was busy in warmongering.

Invariably, whenever the prime minister has travelled to Europe or North America, he would spend some time in London at the much talked- about Park Lane apartments across the Hyde Park, owned by his son.

The London flats of the Sharif family came into limelight following the Panama Papers leaks about offshore wealth and the opposition is pushing to get investigated through a commission the details of their purchase.