"History attests to Pakistan's firm resolve and ability to protect and defend itself," the Foreign Office said in a statement while criticising India's ruling dispensation for resorting to hateful rhetoric for electoral gains. For long, Pakistan's establishment has been criticised for its practice of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings by international bodies

NEW DELHI: Pakistan on Saturday said it stands resolute in its intent and ability to safeguard its sovereignty, a day after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh made it clear that India will enter Pakistan if terrorists run away to the neighbouring nation after carrying out terror strikes in the country.

“Pakistan denounces the provocative marks made by India’s defence minister Rajnath Singh during a recent televised interview. On January 25th 2024 Pakistan had talked about extrajudicial killings by India,” according to a statement released by Pakistan's Foreign Office on Saturday.

Pakistan also said that they stood resolute in in their intent and ability to safeguard their sovereignty against any aggression.

Rajnath Singh had made the statement following a query on a story that appeared in the UK daily 'The Guardian' that wrote that the Indian government had killed 20 people in Pakistan since 2020 as a part of a broader plan to target “terrorists residing on foreign soil.

During a televised interview on Friday Singh said, “If any terrorist tries to disturb the country’s peace, we will give a befitting reply. If the terrorists run back to Pakistan ‘toh Pakistan main this ke maarenge’ (we will go there and kill them).”

Singh also reaffirmed that India had never attacked any country or tried to capture their territory. BUt if anyone threatens India or its peace, they will not be spared.

India hasn’t issued any official response yet on the Pakistan Foreign Office’s statement made on Saturday.

Meanwhile, it may be recalled that Pakistan had on 25th January this year accused India of killing two designated terrorists on their soil. India had categorically rejected these claims.

“The world knows, Pakistan has long been the epicentre of terrorism, organised crime and illegal transnational activities. India and many other countries have publicly warned Pakistan cautioning that it would be consumed by its own culture of terror and violence," said Randhir Jaiswal, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson on January 25th.

The two men Pakistan had then referred to were Shahid Latif, a designated terrorist who was the mastermind of the 2016 attack on Indian Air Force base in Pathankot, and Muhammad Riaz of the Lashkar-e-Taiba who was responsible for a terrorist attack in Rajouri in 2023, leaving seven dead, and injuring 13.

(With Inputs From Agencies)