Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said that two major terrorist groups operating in Pakistan were “Indian proxies”, adding that Islamabad will present “complete evidence” to prove New Delhi’s involvement in the attack on a school bus in Balochistan’s Khuzdar district that killed three children and injured several others.

At least six people, including three students, were slain while over 40 others — mostly students — sustained injuries after a bomb targeted the bus near Zero Point in Khuzdar on the Quetta-Karachi highway when it was on its way to drop the students at the Army Public School in Khuzdar Cantonment.

The condition of at least a dozen is said to be serious due to critical injuries, officials said, adding that at least 15 girl students were among the injured. Security forces vowed to “relentlessly pursue” the culprits of the attack as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir visited the injured in Quetta yesterday.

Speaking on Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’ late on Wednesday, Asif asserted there was evidence that the proscribed Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) was working as an Indian proxy.

“We will present evidence of India’s involvement. We will corroborate whatever we have claimed,” he said.

“The relation between BLA and India is well-known as their leadership is in New Delhi. The allegation against us was unsubstantiated but BLA is fighting like an Indian proxy,” he added.

He was referring to the Pahalgam attack last month in occupied Kashmir that killed 26 people, following which India, without evidence, had blamed Pakistan for backing the attackers.

Asif further said, “BLA and TTP are Indian proxies. They have nothing to do with religion or nationalism, India is financing them and they’re involved in bloodshed here.”

In reply to a question on dealing with the situation, the minister said that “Pakistan will strike with full force and there will be no leniency”, stressing that attacking non-combatants, including school children, was unacceptable.

Asif said Pakistan called for an investigation into the Pahalgam attack, which India didn’t agree to, adding that the world should be informed that the Narendra Modi-led regime was “very irresponsible for using a false incident as a pretext to wage a nuclear war”.

He said Pakistan “will not start nuclear confrontation but cannot stay silent if nuclear devices are thrown at us”.

“Pakistan showed restraint, but still India attacked our bases in the dark of the night,” he highlighted.

A day ago, the military’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), also said that “Indian terror proxies are being employed as a state tool by India to foment terrorism in Pakistan against soft targets such as innocent children and civilians”.

It noted that India had “failed” against Pakistan’s Operation Bunyanum Marsoos during the recent conflict, and its [proxies] were “being hunted [down] by military and law enforcement agencies”.

“Use of terrorism as a state policy by [the] Indian political government is abhorrent and reflective of their low morality and disregard of [sic] basic human norms,” the ISPR said.

“Planners, abettors and executors of this cowardly Indian-sponsored attack will be hunted down and brought to justice and [the] heinous face of India will be exposed in front of the entire world,” the military vowed.

On Monday, the ISPR said 12 terrorists of “Indian proxy” outfits were killed by security forces in separate engagements in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

Last month, ISPR Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said India was activating its “assets” to inte­nsify terrorist attacks in Pakistan. He had detailed the arrest of a Pakistani terror suspect allegedly trained by India as “irr­e­futable evidence” of state-sponsored terrorism directed by Ind­ian military personnel.

China, Pakistan and Afghanistan agree their soil won’t be used for cross-border terrorism: Dar

In a separate development, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said that during the trilateral meeting between China, Pakistan and Afghanistan, all sides agreed that their soil would not be used for cross-border terrorism.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Dar discussed the possibility of increasing diplomatic engagement with Kabul, referring to a statement by Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. He said, “We will look into all these aspects. I fully support the idea that we should settle issues with all neighbours. The core principle should be that there should be no terrorism from other countries.”

He said that he had categorically stated the position that “we will not tolerate terrorism” during his visit to Afghanistan. “You should not allow use of your soil and we will not allow our soil,” he added, referring to his talks with Afghan Taliban leaders.

Dar also said, “The government has a clear resolve. We will deal with terrorism the same way we dealt in 2013 and 2018.

“The Chinese interest also lies in this. […] This was also discussed in the trilateral meeting,” the deputy premier said, referring to the recent moot in China.

The foreign minister further said that in his meeting with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, the latter offered condolences for the Pakistani lives lost during the recent conflict with India.

“He reaffirmed that Pakistan’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and its dignity were very close to them [China],” Dar said.

Dar highlighted that China agreed the Kashmir issue should be resolved according to the UN resolutions, adding that Beijing, like Islamabad, believed that a major reason for the tension in the region was the Kashmir dispute.

Indian High Commission staff member declared persona non grata

Separately, the Foreign Office said that a staff member of the High Commission of India in Islamabad was declared persona non grata for “engaging in activities inconsistent with his privileged status”.

“The concerned official has been directed to leave Pakistan within 24 hours,” FO said in a post on X in the early hours of Thursday.

The FO added that the Indian Chargé d’Affaires was called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to convey the decision.

“It was stressed that none of the diplomats or staff members of the Indian High Commission should misuse their privileges and status in any manner,” FO said.

The decision came after India yesterday declared a Pakistani official persona non grata for engaging in activities not consistent with his official status in the country and asked him to leave India within 24 hours.

A statement from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said: “Charge d’Affaires, Pakistan High Commission, was issued a demarche to this effect today. He was asked to strictly ensure that none of the Pakistani diplomats or officials in India misuse their privileges and status in any manner.”