India is neither trying to destabilise Pakistan by meddling in the affairs of Balochistan nor are its consulates in war-ravaged Afghanistan in anyway directed against the Islamic nation, Indian high commissioner Satyabrata Pal has said.
"We have assured Pakistan that India does not want to meddle in the affairs of Balochistan nor is it trying to take advantage of the situation arising after the Lal Masjid operation," The News reported on Tuesday, quoting the high commissioner as saying.
Pakistan had earlier accused India of meddling after New Delhi had voiced concern over the "spiralling violence" in Balochistan, where the Islamic nation's security forces have been battling armed tribal militants, saying that the gas-rich province "is our internal problem".
According to Pal, the Indian consulates in Afghanistan were not in anyway directed against Pakistan and have only been overseeing development activities carried out by a number of Indian companies in the war-torn country.
Rejecting Pakistan's concerns on Indian nuclear deal with the United States, he said that it should be of no concern to the Islamic nation as all nuclear facilities falling under the deal would be closely monitored (by the IAEA) and would not be used to develop nuclear weapons.
"If India wants to develop more nuclear weapons, it would certainly use its nuclear facilities, which don't come under the Indo-US nuclear agreement. After all, we are the only country having the technology to use Thorium for getting nuclear technology," Pal was quoted by the daily.
The Indian diplomat also dispelled the impression that New Delhi used the tri-nation gas pipeline project between Iran, Pakistan and India to pressurise the US into signing the civil nuclear deal with it.
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