Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Thursday challenged India to present evidence, if it had any, of Pakistan’s alleged involvement in a deadly attack in occupied Kashmir.
Addressing a press conference after a high-level meeting of the National Security Committee, FM Dar said: “India has time and again played the blame game and if there is proof of Pakistan’s involvement [in Pahalgam], please share it with us and the world.”
The attack took place in Pahalgam, a tourist hotspot in occupied Kashmir that draws thousands of visitors every summer. Gunmen opened fire on visitors, killing at least 26 people — all men from across India except one from Nepal — and injuring 17 others. It was the region’s deadliest attack on civilians since 2000. A hitherto unknown group, named by several Indian outlets as ‘The Resistance Front’, is said to have claimed responsibility for the attack.
A day ago, India shut borders, downgraded diplomatic ties and, in an unprecedented move, unilaterally announced the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) over what the Bharatiya Janata Party government and media claimed — without offering any specific or concrete evidence about their allegations against Pakistan — were “cross-border linkages of the terrorist attack”.
In his press conference, FM Dar rattled off the NSC’s decisions and said Pakistan had responded in kind to the Indian announcements. He was seated beside Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Awan.
Dar said Pakistan had noted the arrival of some “foreign nationals” in Srinagar who were under monitoring by intelligence agencies.
“We know that Indian intelligence is supporting them and the foreigners are trying to export IEDs (improvised explosive devices). You can imagine where they are trying to export them,” he said, adding that Pakistan’s armed forces were ready to respond to any challenge.
“We are prepared in regard to defence. If anyone tries to attempt any adventure, then they’ve tried in the past as well [and failed] so this time around it will be even worse for them.”
Asif said that, although India had not named Pakistan directly for the incident, however, the media and other stakeholders were blaming the country.
“[Narendra] Modi is the only world leader who was denied a visa by the US and it was on the grounds of terrorism,” Asif said.
“We have categorically condemned this [attack]. We condemn all forms of terrorism anywhere in the world without any hesitation, be it in India.”
He said that without any hesitation, Pakistan was the greatest victim of terrorism in the world.
“Terrorism is raging in Pakistan, both in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan,” the defence minister said, alleging that sponsors and leaders of banned militant outfits, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Balochistan Liberation Army (bla), “are sitting in India and they get treatment there”. “This is not speculation, this is hard fact,” he added.
Asif said terrorism was being exported to Pakistan, adding that whatever is emanating from Afghanistan or happening in Balochistan “clearly shows the footprints and fingerprints of India”.
He said India had as a state “exported terrorism” to Canada and the United States with protests by their leadership as well. “Thank God there are no such allegations against Pakistan,” Asif added.
The defence minister said that if India were to officially name Pakistan in the backdrop of the Pahalgam incident, the country would give a “befitting response”.
“There should not be any doubt about that, neither to India or the international community,” he said, adding that Pakistan had the complete right to its self-defence.
Citing the example of Indian national Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav, he said that there were a series of incidents in the past 15 to 20 years which proved that India played a part in terrorism in Pakistan.
He said that groups like the TTP and the BLA were proxies of India who had declared war on Pakistan. “India is already fighting a low-intensity war through terrorists against us,” he said.
“If they want to ramp up its scale then we are ready for that, let no have any doubt. We are not about to fold to any international pressure when it comes to our soil and security.”
Asif said Pakistan’s unity would be in full display on the international scene if the propaganda since the past few days took on another form and “India will get to know too how we can respond”.
Talking on the legal aspects of India’s announcement, AGP Awan, who is an active member of the team that deals with the IWT, said that the treaty could not be suspended, let alone either party do it unilaterally.
“If the treaty is to be ended, then it would end by an agreement between the two countries,” the AGP said.
“As far as the [Indian] statement is concerned, which is only a statement for now, if this escalates, then Pakistan, according to the treaty, has all legal rights,” he said, adding that Pakistan would approach any forum related to the treaty to present its case.
At this, FM Dar added that when the Indian external foreign secretary gave the statement, the charge d’affaires at the Pakistani High Commission in India was summoned and issued a demarche.
“In that demarche, there was everything that they had decided. Interestingly, it does not mention the IWT,” he said.
Dar said the Foreign Office would summon Indian officials and issue a demarche today to convey them of the NSC’s decisions. “Looking at these conditions, my visits to Bangladesh and Kabul have been delayed so that we can prepare a diplomatic response,” he added.
The law minister said the provisions for suspension did not exist in the IWT. The minister said that India should not blame Pakistan for its security lapses and evade responsibility without any tangible and admissible evidence.
Meanwhile, the information minister said that the response from India was “childish and immature”.
“Legally, they did not read the document, nor did they try to find the legal grounds,” the minister said, adding that he saw hollow threats yesterday from the Indian side.
“The entire world knows this with clarity that India has been using terrorism to victimise itself,” he said.
“We are a frontline state against terrorism. You have been exposed. The entire world knows that you sponsor terrorism in Pakistan […] now you are using it for your political advantage,” he said.
More to follow.
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