Criticizing Indian Army chief Gen. Upendra Dwivedi for “extreme duplicity,” the military’s media wing on Wednesday urged the neighboring country’s top soldier to avoid “pandering to political exigencies.”
In a statement issued in response to the Indian army chief’s remarks during a press conference on Monday, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) decried as “contrary to facts” insinuations that Pakistan was the epicenter of terrorism. Such remarks, it stressed, were “also an exercise in futility to beat the dead horse of India’s default position—blaming Pakistan for indigenous reaction to state-sponsored brutality. It is a classic case of extreme duplicity.”
Addressing a press conference ahead of India’s Army Day, Dwivedi had claimed that in 2024 “60 percent of the terrorists eliminated” in Indian-occupied Kashmir were allegedly of Pakistani origin. He further claimed that “80% of the remaining fighters” in Indian-occupied Kashmir were of Pakistani origin, according to Indian media.
The ISPR maintained that such remarks were aimed at deflecting global attention from Indian atrocities in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir; repression of minorities internally; and India’s trans-national repression. “The general officer, in his earlier stint in llOJK, personally oversaw the most brutal repression of Kashmiris,” it said. “Such politically motivated and fallacious statements reflect the extreme politicization of Indian Army,” it added.
The military’s media wing said the world had witnessed “India’s hate-speech conclaves” that provoked genocide against Muslims. “International community is not oblivious to India’s trans-national assassinations, and Indian Security Forces’ oppressive use of force against innocent civilians and gross human rights violations against unarmed Kashmiris,” it said.
“Such oppression has only served to strengthen the resolve of Kashmiris for their right of self-determination, enshrined in the U.N. Security Council Resolutions,” it added.
Urging India to stop indulging in self-delusion and embrace ground realities, the ISPR said the neighboring country should stop trying to “conjure up a non-existent terror infrastructure” in Pakistan. “The sobering fact that a senior serving Indian military officer is in Pakistan’s custody, caught red-handed while orchestrating acts of terror against innocent civilians inside Pakistan, seems to have been conveniently ignored by the general,” it said, referring to convicted spy Kulbhushan Yadav.
“Pakistan takes strong exception to such baseless and unfounded statements,” it stressed.
The military’s statement concluded by empathizing with victims of “Indian Army’s brutality.” It hoped that “civility, professionalism, and norms of state-to-state behavior would guide the conduct of Indian Army’s leadership, rather than pandering to political exigencies.”
Foreign Office
Separately, the Foreign Office issued a statement “strongly” rejecting remarks of both Dwivedi and Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh. On Tuesday, Singh had said India must “dismantle Pakistan’s terror infrastructure” in Azad Kashmir, according to The Hindustan Times. He further said Kashmir was “incomplete” without Azad Kashmir, calling it “the crown jewel of India.”
In its rejoinder, the Foreign Office stressed that Jammu and Kashmir remained an “internationally recognized disputed territory, whose final status is to be determined in accordance with relevant United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.” Under these conditions, it said, India has no legal or moral grounds to assert fictitious claims over the territories of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
“Such rhetoric from Indian leadership cannot divert international attention from the grave human rights violations and oppressive measures being carried out in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. These actions suppress the legitimate and just struggle of the Kashmiri people for their inalienable right to self-determination,” it said.
The statement further emphasized that such provocative statements were counterproductive to regional peace and stability. “Instead of leveling baseless allegations against others, India must introspect and address its own documented involvement in orchestrating targeted assassinations, acts of subversion, and state-sponsored terrorism in foreign territories,” it added.