India trashes Pak's Ram temple swipe

INDIA on Wednesday strongly rejected Pakistan's criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's participation in a ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, asserting that Islamabad, with its "deeply stained record" on minority rights, lacks the "moral standing to lecture others.

- JAYANTH JACOB @ New Delhi

'"We have seen the reported remarks and reject them with the contempt they deserve," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during a press briefing. "As a country with a deeply stained record of bigotry, repression, and systemic mistreatment of its minorities, Pakistan has no moral standing to lecture others. Rather than delivering hypocritical homilies, Pakistan would do better to turn its gaze inwards and focus on its own abysmal human rights record," he said, replying to various questions on the topic.