NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday strongly refuted Pakistan’s accusation that it was behind a deadly suicide bombing on a school bus in Balochistan’s Khuzdar city, calling the claim a baseless attempt to “hoodwink the world” and deflect from Islamabad’s own reputation as the “global epicentre of terrorism.”
The attack, which killed four children and injured several others, targeted a bus carrying around 40 students to an army-run school.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal rejected the allegations and expressed condolences for the victims. “India rejects the baseless allegations made by Pakistan regarding Indian involvement with the incident in Khuzdar earlier today. India condoles the loss of lives in all such incidents,” he said.
Jaiswal accused Pakistan of habitually using such incidents to shift focus from its internal failures. “In order to divert attention from its reputation as the global epicentre of terrorism and to hide its own gross failings, it has become second nature for Pakistan to blame India for all its internal issues. This attempt to hoodwink the world is doomed to fail,” he added.
Pakistan’s military and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif were quick to blame “Indian terror proxies” for the blast, without offering any evidence. “Planners, abettors and executors of this cowardly Indian-sponsored attack will be hunted down and brought to justice,” Pakistan military’s media wing, ISPR, said in a statement.
The Khuzdar attack has drawn comparisons to the 2014 Peshawar school massacre carried out by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, in which more than 130 children were killed. While TTP remains a threat, Balochistan has also seen rising separatist violence.
The accusation comes amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan, following the Pahalgam terrorist attack in April that killed 26 people.
In response, India launched Operation Sindoor, a series of targeted strikes on terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and within Pakistani territory. Islamabad retaliated by firing missiles at Indian military positions, attacks that were defused before mounting a counter-response.
The military exchange brought the two neighbours to the brink of an all-out war, prompting an understanding to stop military actions on 10 May. New Delhi issued a stark warning soon after, saying any future terrorist attacks on Indian soil would be considered an act of war.