India slams Pakistan at MEA briefing over terror claims

India strongly rejected Pakistan’s allegations of involvement in the Afghanistan conflict, calling Islamabad a long-time state sponsor of terrorism. The MEA said Pakistan lacks credibility on cross-border terror and criticised its air strikes on Afghanistan during Ramadan

New Delhi: India on Thursday slammed Pakistan yet again, terming the country as the “state sponsor of terrorism for decades” which also has no credibility when it comes to cross-border terrorism. Reacting strongly to Islamabad’s allegations of India’s involvement in the ongoing conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan along the Durand Line, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) that nobody is fooled by Pakistan’s “assumed victimhood” now.

Addressing a weekly media briefing on Thursday, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that it has become second nature for Pakistan to blame India for its misdeeds.

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“We reject such baseless allegations. It has become second nature for Pakistan to blame India for its misdeeds. As a state sponsor of terrorism for decades, Pakistan has zero credibility when it comes to cross-border terrorism. No amount of storytelling is going to alter this reality, nor is anyone fooled by Pakistan’s assumed victimhood,” said Jaiswal.

The current round of hostilities between Afghanistan and Pakistan started when Afghan forces launched retaliatory operations against Pakistani military installations on February 27, following Islamabad’s actions targetting areas inside Afghan territory on February 21. After Afghanistan’s attacks, Pakistan launched ‘Operation Ghazab lil-Haq’ (Righteous Fury) in response to what it described as “unprovoked firing” by the Afghan forces across multiple border sectors.

Earlier this week, India condemned Pakistan’s air attacks on Afghanistan and called out its hypocrisy in conducting them during the month of Ramadan killing mostly women and children while preaching “Islamic solidarity”.

“It is hypocritical to espouse high principles of international law and Islamic solidarity on the one hand, while mercilessly carrying out air strikes during the holy month of Ramadan”, India’s Permanent Representative, P Harish told the UN Security Council on Monday.

The attacks “have killed 185 innocent civilians as of 6 March 2026, around 55 per cent of whom are women and children”, he said.

“India strongly condemns the airstrikes on Afghan territory, which are flagrant violations of international law and the UN Charter and the principle of state sovereignty”, he said.

Speaking at a Council briefing on Afghanistan, Harish did not name Pakistan, but the diplomatically couched remarks were clear against whom they were directed.

Pakistan has claimed that it was attacking Afghanistan as it was allowing terrorists to operate from its territory.

Harish, however, pointed out that it was Islamabad that was using terrorist groups as proxies to attack neighbours.

“Terrorism remains a global scourge afflicting humanity, and only coordinated efforts of the international community would ensure that ISIL [Islamic State] and Al Qaida and their affiliates, including the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed and proxies of LeT such as The Resistance Front, along with those who facilitate their operations, no longer indulge in cross-border terrorism”, he said.

In the most recent massacre across the border, the Resistance Front carried out the religiously motivated terrorist attack at Pahalgam in April, killing 26 people.