India gives Pak evidence of its involvement in Uri attack

India on Wednesday gave Pakistan evidence of involvement of Pak-based terrorists in the Uri attack and demanded that it refrain from supporting and sponsoring terrorism directed against this country.

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit and told him that latest terrorist attack in Uri only underlines that the infrastructure of terrorism in Pakistan remains active.

Jaishankar provided Basit with the content of Global Positioning System device recovered from the bodies of terrorists with coordinates that indicate the point and time of infiltration across the Line of Control and the subsequent route to the terror attack site and grenades with Pakistani markings as evidence of Pakistan's role in Uri attack in which 18 jawans were killed.

“If the government of Pakistan wishes to investigate these cross-border attacks, India is ready to provide fingerprints and DNA samples of terrorists killed in the Uri and Poonch incidents,” he told the Pakistan envoy.

Asserting that the latest terrorist attack in Uri only underlines that the infrastructure of terrorism in Pakistan remains active, Jaishankar demanded that Pakistan lives up to its public commitment to refrain from supporting and sponsoring terrorism against India.

He also reminded Basit that the Pakistan government had made a solemn commitment in January 2004 to not allow its soil or territory under its control to be used for terrorism against India. “The persistent and growing violation of this undertaking is a matter of very serious concern,” he told Basit.

In a release, the External Affairs Ministry said this year, beginning with the Pathankot airbase attack, there have been continuous attempts by armed terrorists to cross the LoC and International Boundary in order to carry out attacks in India.

‘Seventeen such attempts have been interdicted at or around the LoC, resulting in the elimination of thirty one terrorists and preventing their intended acts of terrorism. The foreign secretary also reminded him that even as he spoke two engagements at the LoC were ongoing,’ it said.

Apart from GPS content, India has recovered a number of items that included communication matrix sheets and equipment, other made in Pakistan stuff like food, medicines and clothes, which were shown to Basit.

“We now expect a response from the government of Pakistan,” Jaishankar told him.

Basit’s summoning came a day after Jaishankar headed a high-level meeting, attended by senior Home Ministry officials and Director General of Military Operations, during which the evidence recovered by Indian Army from the terrorists was shared with the MEA.