Security personnel surround the Stock Exchange Building in Karachi, Monday, Jun 29, 2020

New Delhi: India on Monday hit out at Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi for his “absurd comments” linking India to the terror attack on the Pakistan stock exchange building in Karachi.

In a strongly-worded response, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said unlike Pakistan, India has no hesitation in condemning terrorism anywhere in the world, including in Karachi.

He also reminded Qureshi how the Pakistan prime minister described a global terrorist as a “martyr”, a reference to Imran Khan’s remarks in Pakistan Parliament calling slain Al-Qaeda terror chief Osama bin Laden a ‘Shaheed’.

Hours after gunmen attacked the Pakistani stock exchange in Karachi, Qureshi alleged that the clues of strike are leading towards sleeper cells activated by India.

“India rejects the absurd comments of the foreign minister of Pakistan on the terrorist attack in Karachi. Pakistan cannot shift the blame on India for its domestic problems. Unlike Pakistan, India has no hesitation in condemning terrorism anywhere in the world, including in Karachi,” Srivastava said.

“Foreign Minister Qureshi may wish to reflect on this, as also his own government’s position, including his prime minister’s description of the global terrorist as a martyr,” the spokesperson said.

Four heavily armed militants attacked the busy Pakistan Stock Exchange building here with guns and grenades on Monday morning, killing four security guards and a police officer before being shot dead in an exchange of fire, Pakistani authorities said.

The militants, who arrived in a car, opened indiscriminate fire and lobbed hand grenades at the main gate of the multi-storey building situated in the city’s high security commercial hub as they tried to storm it.