KARACHI -- Pakistan will present a dossier to the United Nations of evidence it claims shows India supporting terrorist attacks on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a key component in Chinese President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative, the government said Saturday.
This dossier, which consists of letters, photos, audio and video clips, was shared during a news conference conducted by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Maj. Gen. Babar Iftikhar, the spokesperson of Pakistan armed forces, in Islamabad.
Qureshi said that since 2001, Pakistan has been the target of 19,130 terrorist attacks, causing 83,000 causalities and inflicting $126 billion in damage to the country's economy.
"After 9/11, Pakistan was making sacrifices in blood and treasure, while India was busy laying terrorist networks using its own soil and the spaces in [Pakistan's] immediate neighborhood and beyond," Qureshi said.
He added that Pakistan would present the dossier to the U.N., the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.
Qureshi further added that there is a clear correlation between the announcement of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC, and an increase in terrorist attacks in the country's southwest province of Balochistan.
Pakistan and India, two nuclear-armed nations that share a border, have repeatedly traded accusations of the other sponsoring terrorism in their country. Saturday's news conference was the first instance where Pakistan publicly shared a dossier, claiming to contain "irrefutable evidence" of India's involvement in supporting terrorism in Pakistan.
Pakistani officials present a dossier of evidence purporting to show India's involvement in attacks in Pakistan on Nov. 14.
© AP
During the news conference, Iftikhar alleged that India has established a 700-member militia to sabotage CPEC in Pakistan. "Sixty million dollars were allocated for this militia and 10 operatives of [Research & Analysis Wing, or RAW] of India are among its decision-making commission," said Iftikhar, referring to India's intelligence agency.
He also claimed to have evidence of a RAW officer, Anurag Singh, allegedly being the mastermind behind the 2019 terrorist attack on Pearl Continental Hotel in the port town of Gwadar, where $50 billion worth of Belt and Road projects are underway in Pakistan. He added that Indian operatives were directly involved in orchestrating the attack on Pakistan Stock Exchange in June, where Chinese companies have a 40% stake.
Iftikhar also mentioned that India is funding the armed Baloch separatists under the cover of humanitarian work and Pakistan's security establishment has unearthed four such transactions of $23.35 million.
The allegations by Pakistan came in the backdrop of cross-border shelling between India and Pakistan on Line of Control in the Kashmir region on Friday. At least 10 civilians and five security personnel were reportedly killed in the clashes on both sides.
There is no immediate response from India's Ministry of External Affairs on Qureshi and Iftikhar's claims by the time of filing of this report.
