The Indian Navy on Tuesday said that it pays no attention to Pakistani propaganda in which the neighbouring state has been indulging in for past several days.
“Over the past several days, we have witnessed Pakistan indulging in false propaganda. The Indian Navy does not take cognizance of such propaganda. Our deployment remains undeterred,” the Navy said in a statement.
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Referring to the joint press conference of 28 February, the Navy said that it remains deployed as necessary to protect National Maritime Interests.
Earlier on Tuesday, Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba warned the nation about the looming threat from terrorists to carry out attacks via the sea route even as he accused Pakistan, without naming it, of seeking to destabilise India by aiding and abetting cross-border terrorism.
Addressing a gathering of global experts from defence sector and diplomats at the 2nd edition of Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue, Lanba said the region had witnessed multiple forms of terrorism in recent years and few countries in this part of the world had been spared.
He particularly drew attention to the threat from the sea.
“We have reports of terrorists being trained to carry out operations in various modus operandi, including through the medium of the sea,” he said.
He also said that the 14 February Pulwama attack was perpetrated by extremists “aided by a State” that seeks to destabilise India.
“We recently had the extremist attack in Jammu and Kashmir about three weeks ago. This violence was perpetrated by extremists aided and abetted by a State that seeks to destabilise India,” the Navy chief said.
The global nature that terrorism has acquired in recent times has further enhanced the scope of threat from the menace, he added.
“We have seen how quickly terrorist groups evolve across the globe and this particular ‘brand’ of terror may well become a global problem in the near future,’’ the Navy chief said while urging the global community to act imperatively “to contain and eliminate terrorism in all its forms”.
India had on 26 February launched a pre-emptive airstrike on a major Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) camp in Pakistan’s Balakot. A day later, Pakistan violated Indian airspace in a failed attempt at bombing Indian military installations. During the aerial engagement one IAF MiG 21 Bison – which had shot down a PAF F-16 – was lost and its pilot taken captive. The pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, was released on 1 March in what Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan called “a peace gesture”.
The Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue is the annual review of India’s opportunities and challenges in the Indo-Pacific region. Strategic experts and policy makers from the US, the UK, Israel, Japan, China and Australia are among the 13 countries participating in the Dialogue.
