NEW DELHI: Pakistan has denied New Delhi’s accusations of Islamabad’s hands in the recent blasts in Hyderabad and cautioned India against finger-pointing without investigating the terror attacks. Tasnim Aslam, the spokesperson of Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, referring to the Hyderabad blasts said, “These are terrorist attacks and we condemn them as we are ourselves victim of terrorism. It is always better to investigate than speculate.” Daily jasarat, the mouthpiece of Pakistan-based Jamat-e-Islami in its August 19 edition said,” Slogans of jihad should reverberate in every nook and corner of Pakistan. If Pakistan allows jihadis to infiltrate in India then Kashmir could be liberated in six months.” Indian security agencies say there has been a shift in Pakistan’s strategy of spreading terrorism after the 9/11 attack on World Trade Centre. Inter State Intelligence has started outsourcing its operations to terrorist outfits having their bases in Nepal and Bangladesh.

Instead of involving its own operatives, the ISI has established covert networks with Maoists and Islamic NGOs to trigger blasts in India. ISI has been working on many covert operations to target India with its agents based in Nepal and Bangladesh. This is a significant shift to ensure that in the event of a terrorist strike, Pakistan was not blamed. Its manifestation could be seen in the arrest of gun runner Pasang Lama, a resident of Humla district near Kathmandu from Baramullah in February last by the security forces. Lama has been acting as a conduit to smuggle arms and ammunitions between the Maoists in Nepal and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) in Kashmir.

Lama’s interrogation revealed ISl’s new modus operandi. A senior official in Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said the ISI is coordinating with Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami (HuJI), Lashkar, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) to attack India. ISI’s sleeper cells active in Western Uttar Pradesh, Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bangla border are using the services of indoctrinated youth for ferrying logistics, planting and triggering blasts across India.

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