ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday responded to India’s latest criticism of Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s speech, saying that the masterminds of the Gujarat massacre have escaped justice and “now hold key government positions in India.”
Earlier this week, India’s External Affairs Minister accused Pakistan of “hosting” slain Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and accused Islamabad of sponsoring cross-border militancy at the UN. In response, Pakistan’s Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari referred to Modi as the “butcher of Gujarat” and repeated accusations that New Delhi was suppressing the rights of the people of Kashmir.
Following Bhutto-Zardari’s remarks, India’s Ministry of External Affairs criticized the foreign minister’s “uncivilized outburst,” saying that the comments were a “new low” for Pakistan.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) spokesperson responded by saying that India’s comments were an attempt to hide behind “subterfuge and canard” to conceal the realities of the 2002 Gujarat massacre.
“The fact of the matter is that the masterminds of the Gujarat massacre have escaped justice and now hold key government positions in India,” MoFA said in a statement.
The spokesperson was referring to a massacre that occurred during a series of religious riots that flared for two months in Gujarat and killed more than 1,000 people, most of them Muslims. Clashes began when a Hindu mob scaled the boundary wall of a housing complex in Ahmedabad, Gujarat’s largest city, in February 2002 before torching the homes in which Muslim families were trapped.
Pakistan alleged that India has unleashed Hindu supremacists to exercise cow vigilantism, ransack places of worship, and attack religious congregations.
“The MEA statement is also a reflection of India’s growing frustration over its failure in maligning and isolating Pakistan,” it said.
Nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars, over the past seven decades, over the disputed territory of Kashmir. The Himalayan territory is claimed in full by India and Pakistan. Both, however, administer parts of the territory.
Pakistan, India continue war of words with ‘terrorism’, ‘Gujarat massacre’ barbs
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Pakistan, India continue war of words with ‘terrorism’, ‘Gujarat massacre’ barbs
- Masterminds of Gujarat massacre have escaped justice, Pakistan says
- India, Pakistan accused each other of sponsoring ‘terrorism’ this week at UN
Pakistan rejects Amnesty claims of Israeli spyware use, calls reports ‘disinformation’
- FO denies any link with Israel, says Pakistan has “absolutely no cooperation” on surveillance tools
- Islamabad accuses India of delaying clearance for relief aircraft bound for flood-hit Sri Lanka
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday rejected an Amnesty International report alleging the use of Israeli-made invasive spyware in the country, calling the findings speculative and misleading.
Amnesty’s investigation, published Thursday under the title Intellexa Leaks, cited the case of a Pakistan-based human rights lawyer who reported receiving a suspicious WhatsApp link in 2025. According to Amnesty International’s Security Lab, the link bore signatures consistent with Predator, a spyware product developed by Israeli manufacturer c
Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi dismissed the suggestion that Islamabad had deployed the tool or maintained any technological cooperation with Israel.
“These are all media speculations. These are all rumor-mongering and disinformation. There is absolutely no cooperation between Pakistan and Israel on anything, let alone a spyware or these kinds of tools. So, I would reject it quite emphatically,” he said at a weekly briefing.
Andrabi also accused India of obstructing humanitarian operations, saying New Delhi delayed flight clearance for a Pakistani relief aircraft carrying aid to flood-affected Sri Lanka.
“The special aircraft carrying Pakistan’s relief goods had to wait for 48 hours, in fact more than 48 hours, around 60 hours, while the flight clearance from India was delayed,” he said.
He added that the eventual conditional flight window was too narrow to be workable.
“The partial flight clearance which eventually was given after 48 hours was operationally impractical, time-bound just for a few hours and hence not operable, severely hindering the urgent need for the relief mission for the brotherly people of Sri Lanka,” Andrabi stated.
“Humanitarian assistance is like justice, if it is delayed, it is denied.”
Responding to India’s claim that clearance was granted within four hours, he said Pakistan has documentary proof contradicting New Delhi’s version.
On a separate question about reported delays in the arrival of a Turkish delegation aimed at mediating between Islamabad and Kabul, Andrabi said Pakistan welcomed Ankara’s initiative but was unaware of the cause of postponement.
“We stand ready to receive the Turkish delegation. That delegation has not arrived as yet. And I’m not aware of any schedule. Pakistan is ready to hold negotiations, discussions,” he said, adding that the delay may be linked to coordination with the Afghan side.
