Updated at 9 pm
ISLAMABAD: Strongly rejecting India's comments on the killing of Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, Pakistan on Monday said New Delhi's "ill-advised" concern amounted to "blatant interference in the internal affairs" of a neigbouring country.
Hours after New Delhi said Islamabad should address the "grievances and aspirations" of people of Balochistan through dialogue rather than military force, Pakistan Foreign Office said India should rather focus on putting its "own house in order" and do the same in its areas afflicted by insurgencies.
"The statement (of India) is not only against the well-established norms of inter-State relations but also a blatant interference in the internal affairs of a neighbouring country," Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said.
"India's purported concern for the peoples of other countries is ill-advised especially when India remains afflicted with several insurgencies, including in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Bundelkhand, Gorkhaland, Bodoland and Khaplang, which are being suppressed by force," she said reacting to the statement issued by the External Affairs Ministry.
She said, "Instead of oppression and use of force, India should politically address grievances and aspirations of the peoples of these areas. India should focus on putting its own house in order rather than commenting on the internal affairs of other countries."
New Delhi, which has been protesting against excessive army action in Balochistan, termed as "unfortunate" the killing of the veteran Baloch leader and observed that "military force can never solve political problems".
"This military attack in which two of his (Bugti's) grandsons were also killed and the heavy casualties in the continuing military operations in Balochistan underline the need for peaceful dialogue to address the grievances and aspirations of people of Balochistan," External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said in New Delhi.
Describing the killing as a "tragic loss to the people of Balochistan and Pakistan," Sarna said Bugti's death leaves a vacuum that will be difficult to fill.
India has been protesting against the use of excessive force by Pakistan against the people of Balochistan who are seeking their rightful share in the resources like gas reserves that their region has and is being "denied" to them by Islamabad.
Pakistani military has been conducting military operations for six months to quell a virtual uprising in the region and has used heavy weaponry including helicopter gunships and missiles.
