New Delhi:
"It is the most ridiculous statement I have heard" - S M Krishna's response to the allegation that India is funding the Taliban.
Earlier this week, Rehman Malik, Pakistan's Interior Minister, said he is "convinced" that India is helping the Taliban to "destabilize Pakistan."
In Bangalore on Wednesday, Krishna, India's External Affairs Minister, added, "Whenever such irrational statements are made we take it up through diplomatic channels."
The Taliban have claimed responsibility for a series of attacks in the last month in cities like Lahore, Islamabad and Rawalpindi. More than a hundred people have died in these attacks, seen as the Taliban's response to the government offensive launched against them. Pakistan is bombing South Waziristan, a stronghold of the Taliban.
Earlier this month, the Pakistan Taliban's chief, Hakimullah Mehsud, warned that after setting up an Islamic state in Pakistan, he will help in "the fight against India."
The threat was taken seriously by India, but government sources also see it as the Taliban's attempt to rouse support at a time when its various attacks have killed women and children.