India on Friday lashed out at a Pakistan daily for 'concocting' a story on Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar "admitting" that the recent surgical strikes by the Indian Army were a "bluff" and asserted that the entire report was baseless.
"The News International Pakistan's story titled "Indian FS admits surgical strikes was a bluff" is completely concocted and baseless," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in a series of tweets.
He further stated that German Ambassador Dr Martin Ney was in the group of foreign envoys briefed by the Foreign Secretary on September 29 on the surgical strikes and that "they have had no further conversation since on this subject."
Meanwhile, a story has surfaced on a Pakistan publication The News where the Indian foreign secretary in a recent meeting with German ambassador in New Delhi is said to have admitted that there was no "surgical strike" undertaken by the Indian Army.
Quoting an official source, the daily reported that, "the Pakistani mission had been told that during a formal meeting on the issue of the ongoing India-Pakistan stand-off between German Ambassador to India Dr Martin Ney and Indian FS Subramaniam Jaishankar in New Delhi, "the Indian Foreign Secretary has categorically denied and said that there was no 'surgical strike' undertaken by Indian Army inside Azad Kashmir, Pakistan".