India rejects Pak terror dossier presented at UN

Islamabad hands over the dossier to the UN chief; New Delhi says dossier with India’s alleged involvement in terror acts enjoys zero credibility

NEW DELHI: India’s envoy to the United Nations (UN) on Wednesday reminded the world community of slain al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden’s prolonged presence in Pakistan while dismissing Islamabad’s dossier on New Delhi’s alleged involvement in acts of terrorism.

TS Tirumurti, India’s permanent representative to the UN, spelt out the country’s position after his Pakistani counterpart, Munir Akram, presented a copy of the dossier to UN secretary general Antonio Guterres on Tuesday.

Tirumurti tweeted that the “dossier of lies” presented by Pakistan “enjoys zero credibility”.

“Concocting documents and peddling false narratives is not new to Pakistan, host to world’s largest number of UN proscribed terrorists and entities,” he said.

“Remember Abbottabad!” Tirumurti added, in a reference to the Pakistani garrison town where bin Laden was killed in May 2011 by US special forces in a compound located a short distance from the country’s main training facility for military officers.

Earlier, Akram and Pakistan’s mission to the UN had tweeted about the handing over of the dossier to the UN secretary general. The mission said in a tweet that the dossier contained alleged “evidence of India’s systematic campaign to promote terrorism” and “active planning, aiding, abetting, financing & execution of terrorist activities in Pakistan”.

Another tweet from the mission said Pakistan would “unmask the eco-system” of terrorism from “ungoverned spaces from across our border”.

The dossier, unveiled by Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and chief military spokesman Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar earlier this month, has already been rubbished by both India and Afghanistan.

India has for long accused Pakistan of using terrorism as an instrument of state policy and of failing to prosecute Pakistan-based terrorists involved in executing attacks in Mumbai, Pathankot, Uri and Pulwama.

Pakistan’s dossier has also found no takers in the international community. Islamabad, however, has been persisting with efforts to rake up the dossier at international forums in the hope of influencing the incoming administration in the US headed by president-elect Joe Biden.

Concocting documents and peddling false narratives is not new to Pakistan... TS TIRUMURTI, India’s envoy to UN