Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry on Tuesday held a press conference in Islamabad aimed at disclosing how “India as a state is involved in undertaking cross-border terrorism inside Pakistan.”
Relations between Pakistan and India have plummeted to their lowest level in years following the April 22 attack in Indian-occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which killed 26 men, mostly tourists, and was one of the deadliest armed attacks on civilians in the disputed Himalayan region since 2000. Kashmir Resistance, also known as The Resistance Front, said it “unequivocally” denied involvement in the attack, after an initial message that claimed responsibility.
Following the incident, New Delhi, without providing any evidence, implied Pakistan backed the attackers — an allegation that Islamabad has strongly denied. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called for a neutral probe into the incident.
Lt Gen Chaudhry said that seven days had passed since the Pahalgam incident but so far, India had not provided a “shred of evidence” for its “baseless allegations” against Pakistan.
“We will present to you how India has been found to operate a terror network inside Pakistan in which explosives, IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and other materials are being provided to terrorists to target not only military but also innocent civilians,” he said.
The army’s spokesperson said the evidence he was about to present was just “one small part” of India’s “state-sponsored terrorism”.
“Four days ago, on April 25, an Indian-trained and sponsored terrorist, who was a Pakistani citizen, was arrested near the Jhelum bus stand from whom one IED, two mobile phones, and Rs70,000 were recovered,” he said, adding that further investigation yielded an Indian-origin drone from his house along with Rs1 million in cash.
The DG ISPR said that a forensic analysis of the retrieved materials showed “irrefutable” evidence that could be examined by any credible independent agency.
“The handler was a junior commissioned officer (JCO) of the Indian army, Subedar Sukvinder,” Lt Gen Chaudhry said. “The Indian officer had sent an IED and instructed the terrorist to collect it from a point.
“The evidence I’m putting forth before you [shows] how India is carrying out terrorism in Pakistan [through] serving officers and JCOs of the Indian army.”
He said further forensic analysis showed the involvement of four Indian army officials in the situation: Major Sandeep Verma alias Sameer, the main handler and a commanding officer of the Indian army in occupied Kashmir; Subedar Sukvinder alias Sikander; Havildar Amit alias Adil Aman: and another Indian soldier.
Earlier today, the Pakistan Army shot down an Indian quadcopter drone near the Line of Control (LoC) in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, state media reported. The development came as Indian and Pakistani soldiers reportedly traded fire along the Line of Control for a fifth straight night, after four years of relative calm.
hijacked on March 11 when Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) terrorists ambushed the Peshawar-bound train carrying 440 passengers, opening fire and taking hostages.
Security forces launched a two-day operation, concluding on March 12. DG Chaudhry had said that all 33 terrorists were neutralised, but no hostages were harmed in the final rescue phase.
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