New Delhi, March 12 -- India on Thursday rubbished Pakistan's allegations of an Indian hand in recent clashes between Pakistani troops and the Taliban and said such "storytelling" will not change the fact that Islamabad backs cross-border terrorism.

This was the latest instance of the Indian side backing the Afghan Taliban regime in Kabul in ongoing clashes with the Pakistani military. Fighting between the two sides intensified on February 26, when Afghanistan launched an offensive along the border in retaliation for Pakistan's air strikes targeting the Pakistani Taliban.

When external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal was asked at a weekly media briefing about Pakistan's accusations about Indian involvement in backing the A...