A day after India's foreign ministry released a statement dismissive of Pakistan's arrest of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, the Foreign Office (FO) urged India to "look towards itself before it points fingers at others".
Indian Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Vikas Swarup had tweeted Wednesday saying, "Excesses such as yesterday's orders against Hafiz Saeed have been carried out before."
"Only a credible crackdown on the mastermind of the Mumbai attacks... would be proof of Pakistan's sincerity," he added.
FO Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria, addressing a weekly briefing in Islamabad, said, "India should look towards itself before it points fingers towards others."
"Pakistan has conducted operations against terrorist elements without discrimination," he asserted.
Zakaria alleged that "India has been involved in terrorist operations in Pakistan," adding that there is "solid proof" that Indian state actors and institutions are involved in terrorist activities in Pakistan.
"The interference of Indian state institutions in Pakistan's internal matters has been made apparent before the world," Zakaria said.
"Every country has right to form its immigration policy'
"Every country has the right to form its own immigration policy," Zakaria said, referring to an Executive Order issued by United States President Donald Trump last week that bars immigrants belonging to seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US.
"Pakistan has always had close relations with America," Zakaria added, hoping for better relations with the Trump administration.
During the briefing, the FO spokesperson denied media reports of a ban being imposed by Kuwait on Pakistani visas.
"The reports regarding Kuwait are over five years old," the spokesperson clarified, adding that the rumours may have been fuelled by former US ambassador Hussain Haqqani retweeting an old tweet of his on the issue.
'Kashmiris being converted to Hinduism'
The FO spokesperson said Indian atrocities in held Kashmir continue with the arrest of 14 Kashmiris last week. Forty others were injured, Zakaria said.
He claimed that Kashmir's population is being converted to Hinduism, adding that India is in violation of the United Nation's resolutions
Zakaria called on the international community to take notice of ongoing atrocities in India-held Kashmir.
The FO spokesperson also lamented that there had been no response from India regarding the arrest of three Pakistani boys who had crossed the border in Narowal in Sept 2016, despite Pakistan making contact with Indian authorities calling for their release.
Pakistan will be hosting an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in Islamabad on March 1, Zakaria announced.
The summit will be preceded by a ministerial meeting.
"The OIC has a played an effective role in Kashmir," Zakaria said adding that the organisation is "adopting an strong role in solving the problems of Muslim countries."
"Pakistan is seeking solidarity among Muslim nations," he said.
