On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that the “perpetrators and conspirators” of the Pahalgam attack would face “the harshest response.”
Pakistan is seeking the involvement of Russia and China in investigating the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, reported PTI.
On Tuesday, terrorists opened fire in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, killing 26 people, mostly tourists, in the deadliest attack in the region since the Pulwama incident in 2019. The Resistance Front (TRF), which is a proxy of the banned Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed responsibility for the attack.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that the “perpetrators and conspirators” of the Pahalgam attack would face “the harshest response.”
In a recent interview with the Russian government-run news agency RIA Novosti, Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif expressed, “I believe that Russia, China, or even Western countries could play a very positive role in this crisis. They could form an international investigation team to determine whether India or Modi is lying or telling the truth. Let an international team find out.” He noted that Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also suggested conducting an international investigation.
“We need to identify the culprit of this incident in India, in Kashmir. Empty statements have no impact; there must be substantial evidence proving Pakistan’s involvement or that these individuals were supported by Pakistan. These are merely unfounded statements,” Khawaja Asif was quoted as saying by the news agency.
Meanwhile, Andrew Korybko, a Moscow-based independent analyst, pointed out some concerning statements made by Pakistani officials. He observed that Pakistan not only denied India’s accusations, which was expected, but officials also made two self-discrediting claims.
“Ishaq Dar, who is both Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, suggested that those who attacked Pahalgam might be freedom fighters,” he noted. “Regardless of one’s perspective on the Kashmir conflict, it is undeniably an act of terrorism to massacre tourists, especially based on their religion. Speculating that the perpetrators ‘might be freedom fighters’ undermines genuine freedom fighters worldwide and implicitly justifies terrorism,” Korybkowrote in his newsletter on Substack.
The second self-discrediting claim came from Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, who stated in an interview with Al Jazeera that the attack could have been a “false flag operation.”
“As we reflect on Dar and Asif’s comments, it becomes clear that there is a significant contradiction. Dar insinuates approval of the Pahalgam attack by suggesting that the attackers ‘might be freedom fighters,’ while Asif condemns the attack and blames it on India,” Korybko explained.
“These positions are mutually exclusive and intellectually inconsistent. The inability of top Pakistani officials to maintain a coherent narrative raises concerns about their attempts to cover up their side’s involvement,” Korybko concluded.
