India says Pakistan had ‘direct hand’ in deadly convoy strike
INDIA - India said there was “incontrovertible evidence” that Pakistan had a “direct hand” in a bomb attack on a convoy that killed 37 paramilitary soldiers in Indianadministered Kashmir.
After a Cabinet Committee on Security meeting on Friday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in a statement that India would initiate “all possible diplomatic steps” to “ensure the complete isolation from the international community of Pakistan, of which incontrovertible evidence is available of having a direct hand in this gruesome terrorist incident.” Jaitley added that India would downgrade diplomatic relations by withdrawing its “most favored nation status” to Pakistan, a largely symbolic title.
Thursday’s attack on a convoy of Indian soldiers killed 37 and wounded five, government spokesperson Bharat Bhushan told CNN Friday. It was deadliest attack on security forces since the beginning of the insurgency in the late 1980s. Earlier reporting from CNN affiliate News 18 had the death toll at 40, but that was revised down. The Indian government has blamed Pakistan-based terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammed for the attack. “We demand that Pakistan stop supporting terrorists and terror groups operating from their territory and dismantle the infrastructure operated by terrorist outfits to launch attacks in other countries,” India’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
On Friday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a warning to terrorist groups, saying that the “the blood of the people is boiling.” “I want to tell the terrorist organizations and their supporters that have made a huge mistake. They will have to pay a very heavy cost for this. I give assurance to the nation that the forces behind the attack, the culprits behind this attack they will definitely be punished for their actions,” he said at an event in New Delhi.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement hours after the attack, describing it as “a matter of grave concern.” “We have always condemned acts of violence anywhere in the world,” the statement said. It continued: “We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian media and government that seek to link the attack to Pakistan without investigations.”
(CNN)