NEW DELHI: India on Friday described as "lies" Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi's allegations that it was involved in last month's suicide attack on a bus in the country's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that killed nine Chinese engineers and four others.
In a sharp reaction, Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Arindam Bagchi said it was yet another attempt by Pakistan to malign India in a bid to deflect international attention from its role as the "epicenter" of regional instability and a "safe haven" for proscribed terrorists.
At a press conference on Thursday in Islamabad following the completion of the probe into the attack, Qureshi alleged that India and Afghanistan were behind it.
"This is yet another attempt by Pakistan to malign India, in a bid to deflect international attention from its role as the epicenter of regional instability and a safe haven for proscribed terrorists," Bagchi said.
He was replying to a media query on the comments by Qureshi.
"India has been at the forefront of global efforts against terrorism in partnership with the international community, which is well aware of Pakistan's credentials when it comes to terrorism," Bagchi said.
"Such desperate attempts by Pakistan at peddling lies and propaganda will therefore find few takers," he said.
At least 13 people were killed when the bus carrying the Chinese engineers and workers to the site of the under-construction Dasu Dam exploded on July 14.
The bus fell into a deep ravine after the explosion.