By Our Diplomatic Correspondent
ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Friday rejected a report carried by an Indian news outlet alleging that a banned organisation was undertaking relief work during devastating floods in the country.
In its report, The Times of India claimed that banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) “have come out in full strength to deliver relief work and collect funds across the country” — the allegation outrightly rejected by the Foreign Office.
“Pakistan categorically rejects the contents of the story. It only betrays India’s bias and prejudice towards Pakistan, and is part of India’s regular and continuing attempts to mislead the international audience,” the FO said in a statement.
The FO said it was not the first time that the Indian media had shown “their proclivity to carry baseless and motivated stories to further a political agenda”.
According to the spokesperson, it was also unfortunate that while the international community was “single-mindedly focused on helping Pakistan in the wake of an unprecedented natural calamity”, but some elements in the Indian media were attempting to cast doubts on the relief efforts.
The FO maintained that Pakistan had put in place strong and robust regulatory and oversight mechanisms to monitor flood relief activity by non-profit and non-governmental organisations. “All relevant agencies are vigilant in ensuring that no illicit activity is carried out under the garb of relief efforts,” it added.
