Pak Army terms Gen Rawat's statement on Balakot 'irresponsible'

Pakistan army on Tuesday termed Indian Army Chief Bipin Rawat's remarks on Balakot as "irresponsible".

The Foreign Office also rejected Rawat's statement. The spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr Mohammad Faisal on Tuesday said that India's statements and measures are a threat to regional peace and stability.

The comments of spokesperson of Pakistan Armed Forces, Major General Asif Ghafoor, on Twitter and the foreign office came a day after the Gen Rawat said that Pakistan has recently reactivated the terror camp in Balakot.

"Let me tell you, Balakot has been reactivated by Pakistan very recently. Obviously that shows that Balakot was affected and damaged and destroyed. That is why people had got away from there," Rawat said while addressing a press conference in Chennai.

He was responding to questions on whether there were new terror launch pads in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).

"It highlights that some action had been taken by the Indian Air Force (IAF) at Balakot and now they have got the people back there," Rawat added.

On February 27 this year, IAF fighters flew deep into Pakistan to bomb a Jaish-e-Mohammed terror facility at Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The action came after the February 14 suicide bombing in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama, which killed over 40 CRPF personnel. Since then tensions between India and Pakistan had escalated.