New Delhi, Jul 23 : India on Thursday hit out at Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar for raising the Kashmir issue and suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty at an ASEAN-related meeting in Manila and accused Islamabad of spreading falsehoods and diverting attention from its record of sponsoring terrorism.

In his address at the ministerial meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), Dar said the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty has to be handled through dialogue and adherence to international law.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar represented India at the meeting.

“India categorically rejects the baseless and unwarranted comments made by the Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister of Pakistan,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.

“It is no surprise that a multilateral forum has once again been cynically exploited by Pakistan to amplify falsehoods, peddle state-sponsored disinformation, and divert attention from its own well-documented record of sponsoring cross-border terrorism,” he said.

Jaiswal was responding to media queries on the comments by Dar, who is also Pakistan’s deputy prime minister.

“The Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have been, are and will always remain integral and inalienable parts of India. Pakistan has no locus standi to comment on the same,” he said.

Jaiswal said India’s position on the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) remains consistent.

India decided to put the IWT in abeyance as part of a series of punitive diplomatic and economic measures unveiled soon after the Pahalgam terror attack in April last year that killed 26 civilians.

“IWT stands in abeyance in response to Pakistan’s continued sponsorship of cross-border terrorism, including the dastardly Pahalgam attack,” the spokesperson said.

Jaiswal said the IWT will continue to be held in abeyance until Pakistan “credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism”.

India also strongly condemned Pakistan’s practice of propagating “officially sponsored disinformation, often dressed in religious terminology such as the use of terms like ‘Fitna al-Hindustan'”, Jaiswal said.

“This is a futile attempt by the Pakistani establishment to deflect attention from its own internal crises and its well-proven role as a safe haven for global terrorist networks,” he said.

“Instead of pointing fingers at its neighbours and misusing international platforms, Pakistan would serve itself and its people far better by dismantling the infrastructure of terrorism on its soil and putting its own house in order,” he said.

Pakistani officials have been using the formulation ‘Fitna al-Hindustan’ to describe terror groups they claim are supported by India.