'Pakistan can't blame India', says MEA; attacks Imran Khan for calling Bin Laden 'martyr'

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday rejected 'absurd comments' by Pakistan accusing India of instigating attacks on Pakistan Stock Exchange building in Karachi early this week and said Islamabad cannot shift the blame on New Delhi for its domestic problems.

The Ministry rather urged that Pakistan should reflect on the problems in their own country as well as the government led by prime minister Imran Khan who had himself called global terrorist Osama Bin Laden a 'martyr' while addressing the National Assembly.

"India rejects these absurd comments on terrorist attacks in Karachi. Pakistan cannot shift the blame on India for its domestic problems," said Anurag Srivastava, MEA spokesperson, on Pakistan accusing India of instigating Karachi attacks.

"We would ask Pakistan that they may wish to reflect on this and on their own government's position including their Prime Minister's description of a global terrorist as a martyr," Srivastava added.

Pakistan Stock Exchange attack

The Pakistan Stock Exchange building came under attack on Monday morning as four terror suspects tried to storm into the building on Karachi's II Chundrigar Road. The Baloch Liberation Army has claimed responsibility for the attack. Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had alleged that the clues of a strike are leading towards sleeper cells activated by India. Two security guards and a police officer were killed in the attack, along with all four suspected terrorists. Several people, including three police officials, have been injured, as per reports by Pakistan media.

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Imran Khan calls Osama bin-Laden a 'martyr'

Last week, speaking in Pakistan's National Assembly in Islamabad, PM Imran Khan referred to Al Qaeda terrorist Osama Bin Laden as a "martyr". He opined that Pakistan had suffered tremendous losses by participating in the US-led War on Terror after the 9/11 terrorist attack. He termed the US killing of Bin Laden in 2011 as a shameful incident, lamenting the fact that their former ally US had not even informed the authorities before entering the country and killing Bin Laden.

He remarked, "The manner in which we supported the US in the War on Terror and the trouble that my country had to face...They call us names. If they don't succeed in Afghanistan, they blame Pakistan. I still cannot forget- there were two incidents which made all Pakistanis feel ashamed. One was when the US entered Abbottabad and killed Osama Bin Laden, martyred him. After that, the entire world abused us. Our ally is entering our country and killing someone and is not even telling us. 70,000 Pakistanis have died to their war. You should see what Pakistanis living overseas had to face. I still remember this is an incident from 2010. After that, there were drone attacks in Pakistan. The Pakistan government said that we are doing nothing."

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(with inputs from ANI)