ISLAMABAD -  Pakistan has said that India cannot deny injuring thousands of Kashmiris using pellet guns and its intelligence agency is using TTP in Afghanistan to sponsor terror attacks in Pakistan.

“India cannot deny injuring thousands of Kashmiris using pellet guns in Occupied Kashmir by its security forces,” Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said this during the weekly news briefing here on Thursday.

Zakaria said the Amnesty International had published an exclusive 112-page report titled “Losing sight in Kashmir: The impact of pellet-firing shotguns” containing pictures of pellet-guns victims with their emotions recorded.

It was later revealed that Indian state actors had carried out the killing at a time when the then President Bill Clinton was on a visit to India, he said, adding: “Now when US Defence Secretary James Mattis is in India, they are crying about infiltration.”

He again made it clear that there was no risk of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal falling into the hands of terrorists.

He rejected a recent report of Federation of American Scientists that alleged that Pakistan’s nuclear assets were at risk of falling into the terrorist hands.

He said that Pakistan’s command and control system as well as its nuclear security regime remained robust and were at par with the international standards.

“There has never been a single nuclear security incident in the country. Pakistan also works closely with the international community and the International Atomic Energy Agency in the areas of nuclear safety and security,” he said.

Zakaria said that in fact, Pakistan was providing nuclear security training to regional countries at its Centre of Excellence for nuclear security.

Commenting on Indian army chief Gen Bipin Rawat statement on surgical strikes along the Line of Control, the spokesperson said: “We have seen India hyping up propaganda of surgical strikes, an absurd claim and a proven lie, which the Indian Army propagated last year on September 29.”

He said the military had taken international media to the areas mentioned by India for surgical strikes to prove that there was no truth in the Indian claims. “Such irresponsible statements reflect the Indian hegemonic designs and are fraught with incalculable dangers in an already volatile strategic environment. The world should take notice of India’s threatening tone,” he said.

“A story in the Hindustan Times story a few days back argued that despite pressure from the US, India won’t sever its ties with the TTP, JuA and other terrorist groups in Afghanistan, which the RAW uses to carry out terrorist attacks in Pakistan,” he reminded.

Zakaria said Pakistan wanted to see peace and stability in Afghanistan. “Peace in Afghanistan is in the interest of not only Pakistan but also the entire region,” he said.

Asked about the display of incorrect photograph by Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi at the UNGA, Zakaria said that India cannot hide the crimes against humanity its occupation forces in Kashmir were committing.

To a question, the spokesperson said there was no organized presence of Daesh in Pakistan.

Asked why Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif was not present during the Rights of Reply at UNGA after Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj criticized Pakistan, he said: “This is a procedural matter at the UN, wherein Rights of Reply are a business dealt with by the office of the permanent representative and the team.” To a question, he said, there were 372 Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails.

On Afghanistan, he said that India over the years had played the role of spoiler in Afghanistan. “Under the garb of development assistance India has used Afghan soil to carry out subversive activities inside Pakistan,” he said.

Zakaria said the Research and Analysis Wing of India had developed a clandestine nexus with terrorist groups based in Afghanistan, like the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, Jamaatul Ahrar, East Turkestan Islamic Movement and others.

On the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG), he said, the US was already part of it. “There are three facilitators, namely Pakistan, China and the US along with Afghanistan in the QCG process, with all three facilitators assisting in bringing warring factions within Afghanistan to the negotiating table,” he elaborated.

To a question about Saudi Arabia’s interest in joining the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, he said: “CPEC is a flagship project of One-Belt-One-Road and is envisaged to bring prosperity to the region and beyond. The project also envisages participation of third countries. However, the CPEC is currently in its initial phase and is, therefore, being executed as a bilateral undertaking between Pakistan and China. It is heartening to see growing interest of many countries in joining it. The modalities in this regard are being worked out by Pakistan and China.”

He said Pakistan and Thailand were working to finalize the “Free Trade Agreement”. “It’s in the final stages of negotiations,” he added.

On US-North Korea tension, Zakaria said, Pakistan wanted to see peace in the region. “Our position on missile tests carried out by North Korea is already in the public domain,” he said.

Earlier in his opening statement, Zakaria said China and Russia were conducting separate joint defence exercises with Pakistan.

He also said that the conclusive confessions made by Indian spy Kulbushan Jhadav validated Indian state-sponsored terrorism and terror financing against Pakistan.

He underlined that the foreign minister’s comments were again being twisted to spread falsehood.

In response to a media query regarding Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif’s comments at the Asia Society in New York, Zakaria said, while referring to anti-Pakistan Indian activities in Afghanistan, such as the launch of terrorist attacks in Pakistan with the help of the terrorist outfits based in Afghanistan namely like Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, Jamaatul Ahrar, and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, the foreign minister mentioned Kulbushan Jhadev, a serving Indian Naval Officer working for the Research and Analysis Wing.

In another statement, the spokesperson said it had been decided that from October 2, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will receive documents for attestation from 8:30 am to 1 pm while the delivery timings will be from 2 pm to 400pm.

“In order to assist applicants who live on the outskirts of Islamabad and different cities, Gerry’s, TCS, and Leopards have been authorized to receive documents on their behalf for attestation (except for power of attorney and affidavits) from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its camp offices. These companies will return the documents within three days of submission of the credentials,” said the statement.