India hits back after Pakistan blames RAW for attack on Chinese consulate in Karachi

India on Friday hit back at Pakistan for accusing Indian spy agency RAW of being involved in the November terrorist attack on the Chinese consulate in Karachi, saying it was "fabricated and scurrilous". "We have seen statements in the Pakistani media attributed to the police chief of Karachi making false allegations against India for the terrorist attack on the Chinese consulate in Karachi in November, 2018. We completely reject these fabricated and scurrilous attempts to levy accusations on India. Instead of maliciously pointing fingers at others for such terrorist incidents, Pakistan needs to look inwards and undertake credible action against support to terrorism and terror infrastructure in its territories," a spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi said.

The Karachi police said it has arrested five suspects from a separatist Baloch group for the November 23 attack on the Chinese consulate that killed four people, which they claimed was carried out to "sabotage" the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

At a press conference, Karachi police chief Amir Sheikh said the men arrested confessed to their role in facilitating the three attackers, who were also killed during the attack on the consulate. Shaikh added that the attack was planned in Afghanistan and executed with the help of India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

According to Sheikh, the detainees were linked to the Baloch Liberation Army, a Balochistan-based group which had claimed responsibility for the attack at the time.

What happened?

# In November, 2018, three militants tried to storm the consulate Karachi’s posh Clifton area but security forces foiled their bid by killing all of them in a gunbattle. The attack also killed two police officials and two visa applicants.

# "The aim was to sabotage the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and create the impression in China that Karachi is not safe," Sheikh said.

India condemned  

# India had strongly condemned the terror attack on the Chinese consulate, saying such strikes only strengthen the resolve of the international community to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

# "There can be no justification whatsoever for any act of terrorism. The perpetrators of this heinous attack should be brought to justice expeditiously," the Ministry of External Affairs had said in a statement last November.

India opposed the CPEC

# India has opposed the CPEC as it passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The ambitious $60 billion CPEC project connects China's northwestern Xinjiang region to Pakistan's Arabian Sea port of Gwadar.

(With PTI inputs)