Islamabad had termed Pakistan-specific reference in the joint statement as misleading and unwarranted

India on Thursday slammed Pakistan for objecting to the India-US joint statement in which Islamabad was asked to take immediate, sustained and irreversible action to ensure that no territory under its control is used for terrorist attacks and to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators and planners of all such attacks, including 26/11 Mumbai, Uri, and Pathankot.

Reacting to the joint statement, Pakistan’s Foreign Office on Wednesday said, “We reject the Pakistan-specific reference in the joint statement, issued by India and the US after their 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, as unwarranted and misleading.”

“We have seen the comments of Pakistan’s Foreign Office on the India-US joint statement. The whole world knows the truth about Pakistan’s role in supporting terrorism. No amount of denial can hide this truth. Even their own leaders have time and again spoken about the role (of Pakistan) with regard to terrorism,” Ministry of External Affairs’ spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said.

He was referring to the recent statement by Imran Khan government’s Minister Fawad Chaudhury in the National Assembly wherein he admitted that Pakistan was responsible for the terrorist attack in Pulwama last year in which 40 Indian paramilitary troopers were killed. “Humne Hindustan Ko Ghus Ke Maara(We hit India in their home). Our success in Pulwama is a success of the people under the leadership of Imran Khan. You and we are all part of that success,” Fawad Chaudhury said.

In the joint statement, India and the US denounced the use of terrorist proxies and strongly condemned cross border terrorism in all its forms. Both the countries emphasised the need for concerted action against all terrorist networks, including al-Qaeda, ISIS/Daesh, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.

But Pakistan, while calling the comments unwarranted and misleading, described itself as a country that had “suffered the most from cross-border terrorism.”

Reacting to such statements from Pakistan, the MEA spokesperson said, “The country which provides shelter to the maximum number of UN proscribed terrorists should not attempt to play a victimhood card.”