India doing “smear campaign” against Pakistan on IIOJK drone attack: FO

Islamabad: Terming it “irresponsible and misleading”, Pakistan on Wednesday categorically rejected the statement by Indian Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy regarding an alleged drone attack in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

“Pakistan calls upon India to refrain from its reprehensible propaganda campaign as no amount of Indian falsehoods can succeed in diverting attention from India’s serious crimes in IIOJK,” the Foreign Office statement said issued here.

The Foreign Office said while conveniently choosing not to share any evidence, the Indian government had once again leveled serious allegations against Pakistan.

“This is yet another manifestation of the unsubstantiated propaganda and smear campaign against Pakistan that is characteristic of the Indian government and an obliging Indian media,” the statement added.

It said this was a familiar Indian ploy to externalize any blame, use baseless allegations against Pakistan as a smokescreen, and seek to undermine the indigenous struggle for self-determination of the Kashmiri people.

“The latest allegations further confirm what Pakistan has consistently pointed out that the BJP government stages “false flag” operations to malign Pakistan with terrorism-related allegations for narrow political gains,” it said.

The Foreign Office said the use of Pakistan card either to win an election or to divert attention from an electoral defeat had also unfortunately become a standard practice.