NEW DELHI – Indian Army Chief statement linked against Pakistancontradicted by the Indian government.

Two months after Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat claimed that theallegedly dismantled terror camp in Balakot had been reactivated, theIndian home ministry asserted that once again “attempts are being made torestart” the terror camp.

The ministry added that the government is committed to protecting theintegrity and sovereignty of the country.

“Inputs indicate that attempts are being made by Pakistan-based terroroutfits to reactivate its camp at Balakot and restart their religious andJihadi indoctrination courses against India,” G. Kishan Reddy, India’sMinister of State for Home Affairs said in parliament on Wednesday.

In September, Army chief General Rawat said the alleged terror camp in Balakothad been reactivatedlinkbyPakistan “very recently”.

The claim was immediately brushed aside by the Pakistan foreign ministry,terming it as “baseless”. The ministry accused India of making a “desperateattempt to divert international attention from the humanitarian nightmare”in Indian administered Kashmir.

The 27 February Indian “surgical strike” was carried out in retaliation fora suicide attack claimed by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad terroristslinkona convoy of Indian troops in Pulwama District of Kashmir that killed 40security personnel on 14 February, Sputnik has reported.

Relations between the two nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours havenosedived since then, and reached a flashpoint when India stripped thedisputed Jammu and Kashmir state of its special quasi-autonomous status.

Islamabad rejected the Indian move, calling it a direct violation of the1972 Simla Agreement.