Rejecting Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's claim that Pakistan was behind the grenade attack on a Nirankari congregation in Amritsar, Islamabad on Thursday said it was a bid to drag the country into India's political affairs during election season. Speaking for the first time on the attack, Pakistan's foreign ministry said it had become India's habit of blaming the neighbouring country for any adverse development. "The purpose of such severe and unfounded allegations by the Indian authorities is to cover up their own failures and drag Pakistan in India's domestic political affairs during election season," PTI quoted Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal as saying. [ie_backquote quote="The purpose of such unfounded allegations is to cover up their own failures and drag Pakistan in India's political affairs during election season"] Pakistan's reaction comes a day after the Punjab CM announced the arrest of one of the accused, Bikramjit Singh while saying that the terror attack, which left three dead and 21 people injured, was carried out in active collaboration with the Pakistani establishment and the ISI. Singh further claimed that Bikramjit was an operative of the Khalistan Liberation Force and another accused - Avtar Singh - was still on the run. Singh had further said that the pellets recovered from the crime spot were generally manufactured in Pakistan Ordinance Factory. “These kinds of pellets are manufactured in Pakistan Ordinance Factory. Pakistan ISI is resorting to all such things,” he asserted. Calling India a serial alleger, Faisal said, "Pakistan categorically rejects these allegations. It has become India's second nature to blame Pakistan for any negative development without blinking an eye." However, this is not the first time that Pakistan has accused India of dragging the country into its internal politics in an election year. In September, after India called off a meeting between foreign minister Sushma Swaraj and her Pakistani counterpart on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Pakistan had said New Delhi was just looking for excuses to avoid holding talks before next year’s Parliament elections. Raking up the Kashmir issue, Faisal said India should hold talks with Pakistan if it was serious in solving the crisis. "We have said time and again that our restraint should not be mistaken for weakness," Faisal said.
