ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Pakistan has said that it desires normalization of relations with India, and also urged New Delhi to introspect and respond to questions about its security and intelligence lapses that led to Pulwama attack, the Dispatch News Desk (DND) news agency reported.
Responding to media queries on absurd claims made by the Spokesperson of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs on February 15 about the Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua’s briefing to the diplomatic corps, the Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal said that Pakistan had rejected Indian allegations because these were made within a short time from Pulwama attack and without carrying out any investigations.
The Spokesperson said that these knee-jerk and pre-conceived accusations were nevertheless consistent with well-rehearsed tactics from Indian playbook after such incidents in the past.
Dr Faisal said that Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) remains a proscribed entity in Pakistan since 2002 and Pakistan is implementing its obligations on sanctions implementation.
As for Indian assertions about “JeM claims of responsibility” and purported “video of the attacker”, the Spokesperson questioned the selective and self-serving standards that India adhered to in this respect.
The Spokesperson drew attention to the clear dichotomy in Indian position. On the one hand, India accepted the unverified social media content as “gold standard”. In contrast, India chose denial when confronted with voluntary confessions and acceptance of responsibility by its serving Naval Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav for perpetrating terrorist violence in Pakistan.
Dr Mohammad Faisal said that India needs to introspect and respond to questions about its security and intelligence lapses that led to this attack. He said that India owes an explanation on reports of Adil Ahmed Dar’s arrest and custody since 2017.
Furthermore, the Spokesperson said that in his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Prime Minister Imran Khan followed his intention of taking two steps if India takes one, with the proposal for both foreign ministers to meet at the side-lines of the United General Assembly and a comprehensive, tangible roadmap for normalization of ties.
It was India which cancelled the meeting on baseless pretexts. Similarly, the Pakistan Kartarpur Initiative is another step aimed at improving people to people contacts and deescalating a vitiated environment.
“Bluster, belligerence and pursuit of expedient standards to suit internal political interests is both delusional and counterproductive.”
“India must come out of the denial mode, end state repression against Kashmiri youth, address widespread alienation In IOK and pursue the path of dialogue,” the Spokesperson said.
Tags: Pulwama attack,
