New Delhi, April 5 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress on Sunday lashed out at Pakistan after its Defence Minister Khawaja Asif warned India that in case of any future conflict between the neighbouring countries, the rogue nation will strike West Bengal's capital Kolkata. Asif had also accused India of planning a "false flag operation" against Pakistan. Speaking to reporters, Khawaja Asif had said, "They (India) (plan) some kind of false-flag operation through their own men or through the Pakistanis in their detention by planting dead bodies somewhere and claiming they were terrorists who had done so..."

"If they (India) try to enact such a drama this time, then God willing, we will take it to Kolkata," he added. Criticising the Pakistan Defence Minister's remark, Congress MP Manish Tewari commented that Pakistan has achieved a "PhD in false flag operations". Tewari told IANS, "Since 1971, Pakistan has been conducting false flag operations against India. They have achieved PhD in false flag operations. Whether it is Afghanistan, India or other South Asian countries."

The Congress MP also called Pakistan as the 'epicentre of terrorism'. Tewari said, "If there is any epicentre of terrorism in South Asia, that is Pakistan." "So those (Pakistan) who have done PhD in false flag operations, when they put baseless allegations on others, they, in fact, make a mockery of themselves," he added. BJP Spokesperson Pratul Shah Deo reminded the neighbouring country of how its terror infrastructures were destroyed by India during last year's Operation Sindoor.

"Does Pakistan have the courage to challenge India? During Operation Sindoor, when we struck inside their territory, they must not have forgotten how we destroyed the entire families of terrorists. We had not spared even their military installations," Deo said. He asserted that Pakistan had begged India for ceasefire and said, "We stopped the war on our terms and conditions." Moreover, BJP leader Deo emphasised that Kolkata is beyond the reach of Pakistan. "They (Pakistan) just talk big. Kolkata is even beyond their reach. In fact, whenever we (India) want, we can (strike) any part of their country (Pakistan)," he said.

"India is a peace-loving country. It never wants a war to happen. We never function on the philosophy of attacking first but if somebody raises their eyes at us then what we did to Pakistan in Operation Sindoor, we will do 100 times worse than that, if they try to (strike at us) again," Deo told IANS. Janata Dal-United leader Neeraj Kumar also echoed similar view while criticising Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif. He said, "I hope Pakistan's Defence Minister is aware of the wounds of Operation Sindoor. Pakistan's terror infrastructures were reduced to rubbles in minutes. This type of statement from the Pakistan Minister is heavily objectionable."

--IANS