Calling Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar’s statement on using ‘terrorists to kill terrorists’ a matter of “serious concern,” Pakistan’s National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz issued a strong statement criticising it. “This statement only confirms Pakistan’s apprehensions about India’s involvement in terrorism in Pakistan. It must be the first time that a Minister of an elected government openly advocates use of terrorism in another country on the pretext of preventing terrorism from that country or its non-state actors,” Mr. Aziz said.

At a programme to mark the NDA government’s first anniversary on Thursday, Mr. Parrikar had used a Hindi phrase ‘kante se kanta nikalna’ (remove a thorn with a thorn) to refer to the possibility of using terrorists to counter militancy in Jammu and Kashmir.

Facing criticism over its inability to tackle terror after the bus massacre in Karachi of Shias this month, Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhury had accused the R&AW of instigating terror attacks in Pakistan on May 15.