Islamabad: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Monday blamed a "foreign hand" for the unrest in his country’s Balochistan province after rebel leader Nawab Akbar Bugti was killed in an army raid on August 26.
"Alluding to the nature of subversive activities and evidence available with the government one cannot rule out a possibility of foreign hand in certain areas of Balochistan," the state-run APP news agency quoted Musharraf as telling a meeting of ruling alliance politicians from the province.
Musharraf did not name India but Minister of State for Information Tariq Azeem and Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam, who addressed separate press conferences on Monday, were very vocal about it.
Azeem, who released a “fact sheet” of violent activities carried out by Bugti, asked why India has nine consulates in Afghanistan. “India has only three consulates in the United Kingdom and four in the US where it has larger presence of expatriates and trade interest, he said adding: "Why they have so many consulates within Afghanistan we need to look at."
Asked whether Afghanistan, the US as well as the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which have a large presence of Afghanistan were aware of the Indian help to Baloch nationalists, he said Pakistan does not believe that other countries were involved.
"We know Bugti did not manufacture rocket launchers. Your guess is as good as mine," he said.
He said that a violent situation is being created in Balochistan with the help of outside forces. He said the cave in which Bugti was killed during a security operation came to notice when Pakistan intelligence agencies noticed a convoy of trucks
Aslam said Afghanistan government was not involved in destabilising activities in Pakistan, but the country’s territory is being used for such activities.
Musharraf told the Balochistan politicians that his government stood for the rights of the province and its people.
He claimed his government has taken numerous steps to ensure political representation of the Balochi people at all tiers, ensure empowerment of the common man there, and bring backward areas of the province at par with the rest of the country.
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