Pahalgam terror attack: Pakistan claims ‘nothing to do with it’, Delhi not convinced

One day following the Pahalgam terror attack, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khwaja Asif asserted on Wednesday that they are not involved in the incident that resulted in the deaths of at least 25 tourists and injuries to numerous others.

Indian officials, nonetheless, remain skeptical of Pakistan’s denial, as the preliminary investigation has indicated the involvement of foreigners among the militants who targeted the civilians.

At least 25 tourists and one local inhabitant were killed by gunfire Tuesday at a field close to Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir, marking the deadliest assault on civilians in the nation since the Mumbai 26/11 shootings.

“We have absolutely nothing to do with it. We reject terrorism in all its forms and everywhere,” Asif told a Pakistan TV channel on the Pahalgam attack. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said, “We are concerned at the loss of tourists’ lives in an attack in Anantnag district… We extend our condolences to the near ones of the deceased and wish the injured a speedy recovery.”

Delhi had doubts regarding Islamabad’s statements since The Resistance Front (TRF), a covert group affiliated with the banned Pakistan-based terror organization Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), allegedly took responsibility for the assault.

A source within the security establishment stated that the preliminary investigation, following the statements of victims and witnesses, indicated that four terrorists, including two thought to be “foreign nationals,” entered wearing camouflage clothing. The Pahalgam attack occurred a week after Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir declared that Kashmir is Islamabad’s “jugular vein,” a remark that elicited a strong response from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

Addressing the Overseas Pakistani Convention in Islamabad last week, General Munir said: “Our stance is absolutely clear, it was our jugular vein, it will be our jugular vein, we will not forget it. We will not leave our Kashmiri brothers in their heroic struggle.”

“Our religions are different, our customs are different, our traditions are different, our thoughts are different, our ambitions are different. That was the foundation of the two-nation theory that was laid there. We are two nations, we are not one nation,” Munir had said in one of his strongest statements in the recent past.

Responding to questions on Munir’s remarks, MEA’s official spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, said last Thursday: “How can anything foreign be in a jugular vein? This is a Union Territory of India. Its only relationship with Pakistan is the vacation of illegally occupied territories by that country.”