India on Friday strongly criticized Pakistan for supporting terrorism, saying that the whole world knows who is the progenitor of cross-border terrorism.

Addressing a media briefing here, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said everyone knows that there are nations responsible for cross-border terrorism and India has called upon Pakistan to take strict action to stop cross-border terrorism.

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On asked about Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement claiming that the Indian Army is being politicised after the Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi said terror activities in Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir were linked with Pakistan, Jaiswal responded, “The whole world knows, who is promoting terrorism. In India, when we have terror-related attacks, where it is coming from, we all know the genesis, the root of cross-border terrorism.”

“So, in this context, when the whole world knows who is the progenitor of cross-border terrorism, to say that we are trying to politicise something etc is totally immaterial. Everyone knows that there are people, there are countries who are responsible for cross-border terrorism and we call upon Pakistan to take strict action to stop cross-border terrorism,” the MEA spokesperson said.

Pakistan’s ISPR issued the statement after Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi termed Pakistan as the epicentre of terrorism and said that 80 percent of terrorists active in Jammu and Kashmir are Pakistanis. In his annual Army Day press conference on January 13, General Dwivedi blamed Pakistan for the violence levels in the Union Territory saying it was being orchestrated by the epicentre of terrorism that is Pakistan.

Meanwhile, on the issue of fencing at the India-Bangladesh border, the MEA spokesperson while addressing the media briefing said fencing the border is necessary so that crime-related incidents can be prevented.

“There have been many agreements between India and Bangladesh to fence the border. Fencing the border is necessary so that crime-related incidents can be prevented… We want that the agreements made with Bangladesh to fence the border should also be positively implemented with us… The fencing being done on both sides of the border is being done as per the agreements made between the two countries,” Jaiswal said.

The MEA spokesperson also briefed the media on Friday regarding the upcoming visit of Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri to China on January 26 and 27. During the visit, Misri will meet with the Vice Minister of China, and discussions between the two countries will be held on all areas of bilateral interest.

Responding to the question by a news agency about the Foreign Secretary’s visit to China and whether issues such as visa and direct air connectivity would come up in the discussions, Jaiswal said, “Regarding the upcoming visit of the Foreign Secretary which is going to happen on 26, 27 January, the Foreign Secretary will be meeting his counterpart, the Vice Minister in China, where all issues of bilateral interest will be discussed.”

“This meeting flows from the understanding that the leaders reached in Kazan, and subsequent to that, we’ve had meetings at the special representatives’ level, and we’ve had foreign minister-level meetings as well. Once the discussions and talks happen then u will get a readout of what was discussed, what issues were taken up but all issues of mutual interest will be discussed,” he said.

On being asked about the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, Jaiswal said, “During the Foreign Secretary’s visit all matters of mutual interest will be discussed that would include the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra as well.”