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Uri attack: India summons Pakistan envoy Abdul Basit, offers evidence
India summoned Pakistan high commissioner Abdul Basit on Wednesday over the Uri terror in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 18 Indian Army soldiers.
India summoned Pakistan high commissioner Abdul Basit on Wednesday over the cross-border militant attack on an army base in northern Kashmir and offered to provide evidence for a possible probe by Islamabad into the brazen strike that killed 18 soldiers.
Hours before Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Shairf’s scheduled address to the United Nations General Assembly, New Delhi also expressed concern over the neighbour’s territory being used for attacks in India.
“#UriAttack Foreign Secretary Jaishankar summons Pakistan High Commissioner Basit to MEA,” ministry of external affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.
The government told Basit that New Delhi was ready to provide fingerprints and DNA samples of the militants killed in the Uri and Poonch attacks if Pakistan wanted to conduct an investigation .
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Militants believed to be from Pakistan launched an assault on the army camp in Uri on Sunday as India blamed Islamabad for harbouring terrorist. A week before the army base attack, a policeman and four intruders were killed in a gunfight in Jammu’s Poonch.
“The latest terrorist attack in Uri only underlines that the infrastructure of terrorism in Pakistan remains active. We demand that Pakistan lives up to its public commitment to refrain from supporting and sponsoring terrorism against India,” said a statement from the external affairs ministry.
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Beginning with the Pathankot airbase attack in January, there have been continuous attempts by armed terrorists to cross the Line of Control and the International Boundary in order to carry out attacks in India, the foreign secretary said.
The day the siege of Pathankot airbase ended in January, Pakistan condemned the attack and said it was working on leads provided by India about the perpetrators. But in case of Uri, there has been no offer of cooperation so far.
India said seventeen such attempts have been “interdicted at or around the LoC,” resulting in the elimination of 31 terrorists.
India said there was strong evidence that Pakistan’s territory was used by militants. They include: GPS devices found on the bodies of intruders, grenades with Pakistani markings and communication equipment and food items, medicines and clothes made in Pakistan, among others.
“The high commissioner refuted allegations. India wants to divert attention from Kashmir issue. Instead of propaganda, issues should be resolved through dialogue and under UNSC resolution,” Pakistan sources said.
Read | India’s fallen heroes: The 18 soldiers who lost their lives in Uri attack
