ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s military has accused India’s main intelligence agency of whipping up terrorism in Pakistan in rare public criticism that could increase tension between the nuclear-armed rivals.
The accusation came after a meeting of the army’s top commanders at the military’s headquarters in the city of Rawalpindi on Tuesday to review an offensive against militants in the northwest and other security issues.
“The conference also took serious notice of RAW’s involvement in whipping up terrorism in Pakistan,” the army said in a statement, referring to India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), its external intelligence arm.
While Pakistani army officers often privately accuse India of meddling, it is rare for the military to accuse India’s spy agency in an official statement.
The neighbors have fought three wars since 1947, two of them over the divided Muslim-majority region of Kashmir, which they both claim in full but rule in part.
Pakistan believes India is supporting separatists in resource-rich Balochistan province, as well as militants fighting the state. It also sees India as fueling strife in the volatile city of Karachi.
India denies interference in Pakistan but accuses Pakistan of supporting militants who launch attacks in India and fight in Indian Kashmir. India has also accused Pakistan of backing the Taleban in Afghanistan. Pakistan denies those accusations.
A Pakistani official with knowledge of the commanders’ meeting said they had discussed what they believed to be India’s involvement in the Balochistan insurgency.
“It was unanimously felt that India is providing all kinds of support to Pakistan’s enemies, be they the (Pakistani) Taleban, or elements in Karachi or in Balochistan,” said the official who declined to be identified.
“There is documentary proof. All evidence is there and we will bring it in the open soon.”
Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said in a television interview aired later that RAW was “an enemy organization.”
“RAW has been formed to undo Pakistan and to wipe Pakistan off the map of the world,” Asif said.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif made improving ties with India a priority when he won a 2013 election.
But his push was widely seen as causing friction with the army, which sees relations with India as its responsibility.
Late last month, Sharif accused India of failing to respond to Pakistan’s desire for good relations.
India was angered earlier in April when a Pakistani court freed on bail Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, accused of plotting a 2008 assault on the city of Mumbai in which 166 people were killed.
Pakistan Army accuses India of backing terrorism
Pakistan Army accuses India of backing terrorism
Japan restarts world’s biggest nuclear plant
- Japan wants to revive atomic energy to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels
KARIWA: The world’s biggest nuclear power plant was restarted Wednesday for the first time since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, its Japanese operator said, despite persistent safety concerns among residents.
The plant was “started at 19:02” (1002 GMT), Tokyo Electric Power Company spokesman Tatsuya Matoba said of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata prefecture.
The regional governor approved the resumption last month, although public opinion remains sharply divided.
On Tuesday, a few dozen protesters — mostly elderly — braved freezing temperatures to demonstrate in the snow near the plant’s entrance, whose buildings line the Sea of Japan coast.
“It’s Tokyo’s electricity that is produced in Kashiwazaki, so why should the people here be put at risk? That makes no sense,” Yumiko Abe, a 73-year-old resident, told AFP.
Around 60 percent of residents oppose the restart, while 37 percent support it, according to a survey conducted in September.
TEPCO said Wednesday it would “proceed with careful verification of each plant facility’s integrity” and address any issues appropriately and transparently.
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa is the world’s biggest nuclear power plant by potential capacity, although just one reactor of seven was restarted.
The facility was taken offline when Japan pulled the plug on nuclear power after a colossal earthquake and tsunami sent three reactors at the Fukushima atomic plant into meltdown in 2011.
However, resource-poor Japan now wants to revive atomic energy to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and meet growing energy needs from artificial intelligence.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has voiced support for the energy source.
Fourteen reactors, mostly in western and southern Japan, have resumed operation since the post-Fukushima shutdown under strict safety rules, with 13 running as of mid-January. The vast Kashiwazaki-Kariwa complex has been fitted with a 15-meter-high (50-foot) tsunami wall, elevated emergency power systems and other safety upgrades.
However, residents raised concerns about the risk of a serious accident, citing frequent cover-up scandals, minor accidents and evacuation plans they say are inadequate.
