PM Shehbaz says Pakistan open to ‘neutral, transparent’ probe into Pahalgam attack
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday said Pakistan was open to any “neutral and transparent” investigation into the Pahalgam attack in India-occupied Kashmir this week.
The April 22 attack in Pahalgam saw 26 people, mostly tourists, killed in what is being described as the deadliest armed attack in the disputed Himalayan region since the year 2000. Responsibility for the attack was allegedly claimed by the hitherto unknown The Resistance Front (TRF).
Since the incident, the nuclear-armed nations have unleashed a raft of measures against each other, with India unilaterally suspending the critical Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) and Pakistan retaliating by threatening to put the Simla Agreement in abeyance and closing its airspace for Indian flights.
India has implied cross-border linkages of the attackers, while Pakistan strongly denied any involvement.
Addressing a passing-out parade at the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul, PM Shehbaz said: “The recent tragedy in Pahalgam is yet another example of this perpetual blame game, which must come to a grinding halt. Continuing with its role as a responsible country, Pakistan is open to participating in any neutral, transparent and credible investigation.”
The premier criticised India for continuing with a “pattern of exploitation, levelling baseless allegations and false accusations without credible investigation or verifiable evidence”.
Speaking on India’s recent move to suspend the IWT, PM Shehbaz said: “Water is a vital national interest of Pakistan, our lifeline […] Let there be no doubt at all [that] its availability will be safeguarded at all costs and under all circumstances.
“Therefore, any attempt to stop, reduce or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan under the Indus Waters Treaty would be responded to with full force and might. Nobody should remain under any kind of false impression and confusion,” the prime minister warned.
“Our valiant armed forces remain fully capable and prepared to defend the country’s sovereignty and its territorial integrity against any misadventures, as clearly demonstrated by our measured yet resolute response to India’s reckless incursion in February 2019,” he added, referring to ‘Operation Swift Retort’.
Expressing his “fullest confidence” in the armed forces, PM Shehbaz said, “This nation of 240 million people stands united by and behind our brave armed forces and ready to safeguard every inch of our homeland Pakistan.”
He stressed: “Peace is our preference but must not be construed as our weakness.”
During his address, the prime minister also reaffirmed Pakistan’s support for Kashmiris’ right to self-determination.
“As Founder of the Nation Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah rightly said, Kashmir is the jugular vein of Pakistan. Unfortunately, this globally recognised dispute remains unresolved despite multiple UN resolutions.
“Let there be no doubt, Pakistan shall continue to support the right of self-determination of the Kashmiri people till they achieve their rights through their great struggle and sacrifices,” he added.
PM raises issue of terrorism from Afghan soil, stresses better ties
Meanwhile, PM Shehbaz once again raised Pakistan’s concerns about cross-border terrorism with Afghanistan, emphasising the desire for improved ties.
“It is our earnest desire to live in peace with them (Afghanistan) for all times to come. Unfortunately, despite our best and sincere efforts, terrorist activities continue to emanate from Afghan territory,” he said.
Recalling Deputy PM Ishaq Dar’s recent visit to Kabul, the premier asserted: “We shall continue our efforts to have better relations and understanding with our brotherly and neighbourly country Afghanistan.
“However, we have also delivered a strong and clear message to the interim Afghan government that while we desire peaceful neighbourly relations with Kabul, this cannot happen as long as the Afghan soil is being used by Fitna-Al-Khawarij to attack Pakistanis,” he added.
The prime minister asserted that Pakistan had “always condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations”.
“As the world’s frontline state against terrorism, we have endured immense loss, with our 90,000 casualties and economic losses beyond imagination, exceeding $600 billion,” he highlighted.
“[…] we would not tolerate any kind of terrorism, of any hue and colour, and that has been demonstrated beyond any ray of doubt,” the premier added.
Khawaja Asif calls for international probe, warns of ‘all-out war’
PM Shehbaz’s statement comes a day after Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told the New York Times in an interview that Pakistan was “ready to cooperate” with “any investigation which is conducted by international inspectors”.
The minister said India had used the aftermath of the militant attack as a pretext to suspend the IWT and for domestic political purposes. India was taking steps to punish Pakistan “without any proof, without any investigation”, he added.
“We do not want this war to flare up, because flaring up of this war can cause disaster for this region,” Asif told the publication.
Asif rebutted India’s allegations by asserting that the proscribed organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was “defunct” and had no ability to plan or conduct attacks from Pakistan.
“They don’t have any setup in Pakistan,” he told the NYT.
“Those people, whatever is left of them, they are contained. Some of them are under house arrest, some of them are in custody. They are not at all active,” the minister said.
According to NYT, Asif said the attack could have been a “false flag” operation carried out by the Indian government to provoke a crisis.
The defence minister asserted that for the last decade, India had been trying to get out of the treaty, which has been a source of stability in the region.
“They were creating excuses. They were creating problems that were not there,” he was quoted as saying. “They have now found an excuse to get out of this arrangement.”
In a separate interview with Sky News, Asif had warned of an “all-out war” if India carried out any attack on Pakistan.
“If there is an all-out attack or something like that, then obviously there will be an all-out war,” Asif said, adding that the world should be “worried” by the prospect of a full-scale military conflict in the region.
Fire exchange at LoC for 2nd day
Separately, there were reports of Indian and Pakistani troops exchanging gunfire for a second straight day on Saturday across the Line of Control (LoC) as ties plummeted in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack.
Yesterday, Syed Ashfaq Gilani, a government official in Azad Kashmir, had told AFP that troops exchanged fire along the line separating the two countries. “There was no firing on the civilian population,” he added.
There was no immediate comment from the Pakistani military. India’s army confirmed there had been limited firing of small arms.
According to Reuters, the Indian army today claimed its troops responded to “unprovoked” small arms fire from multiple Pakistan Army posts that started around midnight on Friday along the 740-kilometre LoC.
No casualties were reported from the Indian side, it said.
Among India’s aggressive measures announced on April 23 against Pakistan was the unilateral move to suspend the 1960 IWT, which was brokered by the World Bank and has endured through wars and decades of hostility.
India also shut its borders and downgraded diplomatic ties over what its government and media claimed — without offering any evidence — was Islamabad’s alleged support for cross-border terrorism.
The next day, the National Security Committee (NSC) in Islamabad announced Pakistan’s response — putting all trade, bilateral pacts and flights off-limits for its eastern neighbour. It also called on India to “refrain from its reflexive blame game and cynical, staged managed exploitation of incidents like Pahalgam to further its narrow political agenda”.
As tensions rose between the nuclear powers, voices from across the world, including the United Nations, called on both countries to exercise restraint. While Saudi Arabia and Iran offered to mediate, United States President Donald Trump said he was confident that India and Pakistan would “get it figured out”.
In an interesting remark, Trump said: “There have been tensions on that border for 1,500 years so, you know, it’s the same as it has been.” Since the attack, Trump and other US officials have offered India “full support” in hunting down the perpetrators of the violent incident.
More to follow