India rejects “baseless” Pakistan allegations that it was involved in BLA train attack

Pakistan should look at its internal failures instead of pointing fingers and shifting blame, says MEA spokesperson; Pakistan claims Baloch rebels used Indian, Afghan weapons in their ambush of the train

Islamabad should “look inwards” instead of pointing fingers and shifting blame, India said in its first official comments after a deadly attack on a Quetta-Peshawar train by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) left 21 passengers as hostages, while at least 33 Baloch rebels were killed.

India pushed back against allegations made by the Pakistan Foreign Office and military establishment, who claimed that the Baloch militants were receiving support from India and Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. This was the largest attack by the Baloch rebels in nearly two decades.

“We strongly reject the baseless allegations made by Pakistan. The whole world knows where the epicentre of global terrorism lies. Pakistan should look inwards instead of pointing fingers and shifting the blame for its own internal problems and failures on others,” the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.

‘BLA used Afghan, Indian weapons’

Earlier, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan blamed the attack on India. “India has been involved in terrorism in Pakistan in the particular attack on Jaffar Express,” he alleged, adding that “the terrorists had been in contact with their handlers and ring leaders in Afghanistan.”

Pakistan continued this refrain on Friday, with the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry amplifying the Pakistan Foreign Office’s attempt to blame India as the main sponsor of terrorism in Balochistan. In a media briefing, Mr. Chaudhry alleged that the BLA’s fighters had used Afghan and Indian weapons in the attack against the Jaffar Express, which connects Quetta with Peshawar. Mr. Chaudhry claimed that none of the hostages were harmed during the two-day operation that began on Tuesday and concluded on Wednesday, though Pakistani media had earlier cited sources to report that at least four members of the Frontier Corps died while clearing the rebel fighters from the ambushed train.

‘Cover up of lies, defeat’

BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch disputed Mr. Chaudhry’s remarks about the operation, terming it an “attempt to cover up lies and defeat” in an email to The Hindu. On March 11, Mr. Baloch had announced the dramatic escalation in the group’s activities in a statement, claiming that nearly 182 passengers were taken hostage after the Jaffar Express was forced to stop. The BLA alleged that at least 100 of the passengers were “active-duty personnel from the Pakistan military, police, Anti-Terrorism Force (AtF), and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).” Mr. Baloch had added: “During the operation, BLA fighters have released women, children, and Baloch passengers, ensuring that all remaining hostages are serving personnel of the occupying forces.”

The BLA was declared a terrorist organisation by the United States during the first presidency of Donald Trump on July 2, 2019.

Insurgency in Balochistan — Pakistan’s largest province, which has rich petroleum and natural gas resources — is an old problem that goes back to the country’s inception. The Baloch have traditionally resisted the State, with various clans and tribes joining hands, including the Marris, Bugtis and Bizenjos. The last big crackdown against the traditional Baloch resistance came in 2006, in the last days of President Pervez Musharraf’s rule, when Nawab Akbar Bugti and his followers were killed in a helicopter gunship attack. Younger Baloch rebels have thereafter teamed up under more militant banners like the BLA, while most of the traditional Baloch elite now live in exile in Europe and the Gulf countries.

Published - March 14, 2025 09:53 am IST