Pakistan on Monday dubbed as “baseless and irresponsible” attempts by Indian politicians to drag it into India’s domestic politics, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleged Pakistani interference in the Gujarat Assembly election. Modi on Sunday claimed at an election rally that there was an attempt by Pakistan to interfere in the Gujarat polls, the second phase of which is scheduled for December 14. Reacting to Modi’s comments, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal tweeted that “India should stop dragging Pakistan into its electoral debate and win victories on (its) own strength rather than fabricated conspiracies, which are utterly baseless and irresponsible”.
The prime minister also raised questions about the alleged appeal by former director general (DG) of the Pakistan Army Sardar Arshad Rafiq for making senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel chief minister of Gujarat. Modi alleged that Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar had held a meeting at his house which was attended by former prime minister Manmohan Singh, a former Indian vice president, Pakistan’s high commissioner in India, and a former Pakistani foreign minister. “On one hand, Pakistan Army’s former DG is interfering in Gujarat’s election, and on the other, Pakistani people are holding a meeting at Mani Shankar Aiyar’s house. After that meeting, people of Gujarat, backward communities, poor people and Modi were insulted. Don’t you think such events raise doubts?” he had said while addressing a poll rally in Gujarat.
