Pakistan has rejected as "baseless and unfounded'' the Indian allegation that social media networking sites here were responsible for whipping up communal sentiments in India; triggering a panic exodus of people from the North-East from various cities.
While Interior Minister Rehman Malik said he had asked his Indian counterpart Sushil Kumar Shinde to provide evidence to back up the allegation, the Foreign Office was quoted by The News as describing the charge as baseless and detrimental to the effort to improve bilateral ties
Mr. Shinde had asked Mr. Malik on Sunday to rein in those elements in Pakistan who are allegedly trying to create trouble in India with fear-mongering on social networking websites. The two ministers spoke to each other when Mr. Malik called Mr. Shinde on Sunday to greet him on the occasion of Eid-ul Fitr.
"We totally reject these allegations and insinuations. They are totally baseless and unfounded. Such unsubstantiated statements are not very helpful in creating a conducive environment necessary for improving the relationship between our two countries,'' the Foreign Office spokesman told The News .
Maintaining that the tools of modern technology are not in the hands of a single person or capital, the spokesman further added that India was perhaps trying to "externalise'' a very serious problem by pointing fingers at Pakistan. This, he pointed out, would not help anyone in the long term.
