Pakistan condemns weekend attack in Kashmir
Pakistan condemned the weekend suicide operation in Indian-administered Kashmir on Monday, calling it a “terrorist act” as Islamabad’s new ambassador arrived in India.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Masood Khan, said: “This is a terrorist act, we condemn all terrorist acts … this is a horrible incident. I think that those innocent lives should not have been targeted”.
Early on Saturday, two Kashmiri fighters stormed a camp outside the winter capital Jammu, killing 12 Indian soldiers.
New Delhi has not commented yet on the attack, the deadliest since India and Pakistan started easing tensions in April.
Meanwhile, new Pakistani ambassador Aziz Ahmad Khan arrived in India in a move expected to improve relations.
“We are very happy this process (of normalization) has started and we hope this process will gain momentum and we’ll be able to resolve all our problems like good neighbors”, Khan told Indian television.
India’s new ambassador to Pakistan, Shivshankar Menon, is expected to arrive in Islamabad in July.
Pakistan and India agreed to restore full diplomatic ties after Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee offered Pakistan a “hand of friendship” on 18 April.
Tensions between the two countries peaked after an attack on India’s parliament in December 2001.
India blamed Pakistan-backed Kashmiri fighters of carrying out the attack.