'Attempt to Divert Attention From Kashmir': Pak on Indian Army's Claim of Reactivation of Balakot Camp

Islamabad: Pakistan on Tuesday rejected as "completely baseless" the Indian Army chief's statement on the reactivation of terror camp in Balakot that was destroyed by the IAF earlier this year.

The Indian Army Chief's statement on the reactivation of terror camp in Balakot is "completely baseless", the Foreign Office said in a statement.

The allegation of "infiltration" from Pakistan reflects "a desperate attempt" of India to divert international attention from the "humanitarian crisis" in Jammu and Kashmir, it said, adding that New Delhi will not "succeed in misleading the world community through these diversionary tactics".

On Monday, Army chief Bipin Rawat said that terror camps in Balakot are active again, almost seven months after the Indian Air Force destroyed the complex run by the Jaish-e-Mohammad in retaliation for the Pulwama terror attack.

General Rawat added that close to 500 infiltrators are waiting to infiltrate into India.

The response to the terror camp getting functional again may go beyond India's previous response by way of an air strike in February, he told reporters here at the Officers Training Academy in the Tamil Nadu capital.

Tensions between India and Pakistan spiked after India on August 5 revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special status and bifurcated it into two union territories.

Reacting to India's move on Kashmir, Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties with New Delhi and expelled the Indian High Commissioner.

Pakistan has been trying to internationalise the Kashmir issue but India has asserted that the abrogation of Article 370 was its "internal matter" and asked Islamabad to accept the reality and stop its anti-India rhetoric.

Early this year, tensions flared up between India and Pakistan after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) killed 40 CRPF personnel in Kashmir's Pulwama district.

Amid mounting outrage, the Indian Air Force carried out a counter-terror operation, hitting the biggest JeM training camp in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan on February 26.