India rubbishes Pak claim of involvement in Lahore bombing as ‘baseless propaganda’
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New Delhi: India on Thursday dismissed as “baseless propaganda” Pakistan’s claim that a bombing in Lahore last month was masterminded by the RAW intelligence agency, and said that Pakistan should instead focus on rooting out terrorism emanating from its soil. Pakistan’s National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf had contended on Sunday that the “main mastermind” of the car bomb attack near Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed’s home in Lahore on June 23 belonged to RAW. Yusuf had also accused India of sponsoring terror activity on Pakistani soil. Asked about these allegations at a weekly news briefing, external affairs ministry spokesperson ArindamBagchi said: “It is not new for Pakistan to engage in baseless propaganda against India.”Bagchi added, “Pakistan would do well to expend the same effort in setting its own house in order and taking credible and verifiable action against terrorism emanating from its soil and terrorists who have found safe sanctuaries there.”The world community, he said, is “well aware of Pakistan’s credentials when it comes to terrorism”.Bagchi said, “This is acknowledged by none other than its own leadership which continues to glorify terrorists like Osama bin Laden as martyrs.”
The remark was an apparent reference to Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi's refusal to answer a question during an interview last month on whether he considered slain al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden a “martyr”.Three people were killed and more than 20 others injured in the car bombing near Hafiz Saeed’s home at Johar Town in Lahore last month. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. Pakistan’s NSA Yusuf told a news conference on Sunday that there allegedly links to India in the financing and execution of the attack. However, he didn’t provide any detailed information to back up his contentions and only said that Pakistan had gathered “concrete evidence and intelligence” in this regard.
