ALI HUSSAIN

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan High Commissioner in New Delhi Abdul Basit was summoned by the Indian External Affairs Ministry on Tuesday for the second time in a week and presented alleged proof of cross border origins of the Uri attackers.

“Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar calls in Pakistan HC Basit today & presents proof of cross border origins of Uri attacks,” tweeted Vikas Swarup, Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson.

According to him, the Indian Foreign Secretary shared the outcome of the preliminary interrogation which revealed the identity of one of the slain Uri attackers as Hafiz Ahmed, son of Feroz and resident of Dharbang, Muzaffarabad.

He further said the Pakistani High Commissioner was also informed about the two alleged guides who helped infiltrate the army camp and were apprehended by local villagers and are now in custody.

The guides, according to Swarup, were identified as Faizal Hussain Awan, 20, s/o Gul Akbar, resident of Potha Jahangir, Muzzaffarabad and Yasin Khurshid, 19, s/o Mohammed Khurshid, resident of Khiliana Kalan, Muzzaffarabad.

He further maintained that details of handlers were also obtained and they were identified as Mohammad, Kabir Awan and Basharat. “The Foreign Secretary terms continuing cross border terrorist attacks form Pakistan against India as unacceptable,” he added. Abdul Basit was summoned last Wednesday by the Indian Foreign Secretary and informed that India had recovered several items from the slain attackers — GPS, grenades with Pakistani markings, communication equipment, food, medicines and clothes made in Pakistan.

Basit was also told that India was ready to provide fingerprints and DNA samples of the attackers killed in Uri and Poonch if Islamabad “wishes to investigate these cross-border attacks”.

Talking to the media in New Delhi, Abdul Basit rejected Indian allegations as a ‘pack of lies’.

Pakistan, however, has not responded to India’s offer to investigate the alleged cross border attacks though the allegations have been categorically rejected.

“Minutes after the [Uri] attack, the Indian authorities blamed Pakistan for the incident without even investigating the matter. It is either a strategy or a matter of habit on their part to blame Pakistan for any incident in India, especially in IOK”, Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said during the weekly media briefing last week as to whether Pakistan will cooperate in the investigation into the Uri attack.

 “We totally reject these unfounded, baseless and uninvestigated accusations leveled against Pakistan. First of all, Pakistan has nothing to gain from such incidents. Secondly, we must understand the backdrop and context of the occurrence of such incidents,” he said referring to the continued Indian security forces atrocities against Kashmiri people.

Pakistan has not yet summoned the Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad to lodge a strong protest against the latest tirade of unfounded accusations by Indian politicians and officials.

However, sources revealed that a note verbale was delivered to Indian High Commission on August 12, 2016 to convey Pakistan’s serious concerns over the situation in Indian-held Kashmir.