ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday urged the international community to take note of Indian actions that undermine regional stability.

“We hope the international community would take full cognisance of the situation and hold India accountable for its actions (that are) vitiating the regional environment and endangering peace and security in South Asia,” Foreign Office Spokesman Zahid Chaudhri said at the weekly media briefing.

His comment was in the context of the published transcript of WhatsApp chats between Indian TV anchor Arnab Goswami and head of an Indian ratings company Partho Dasgupta, which suggested that Goswami knew in advance about Delhi’s plan to conduct a surgical strike inside Pakistan in February 2019.

The chats were submitted as evidence by Mumbai police in an ongoing investigation into manipulation of television ratings in India.

The spokesman said that “irresponsible and irrational policies and actions of the current RSS-BJP regime in India” were severely imperiling regional peace and security.

He recalled that Pakistan government had regularly been pointing out that India’s BJP government staged “false flag” operations; maligned Pakistan with terrorism-related allegations; stoked hyper-nationalism in the country and used it for petty political gains.

The transcript showed that when Goswami told Dasgupta, three days before the Balakot attack, that “something big will happen”, the latter replied: “It’s good for big man in this season… He will sweep polls then.”

Biden administration

Welcoming the inauguration of Joe Biden, the spokesman said Pakistan looked forward to working with the new administration.

He said Prime Minister Imran Khan had congratulated President Biden on the occasion of his inauguration.

PM Khan had stated that Pakistan was looking forward to working with Mr Biden in building a stronger Pakistan-United States partnership through trade and economic engagement; countering climate change; improving public health; combating corruption; and promoting peace in the region and beyond.

Published in Dawn, January 22nd, 2021