India on Thursday voiced its disappointment with Pakistan’s response to the dossier shared with it following the Pulwama terror attack, slamming the nation for not sharing details of credible action – if taken.
Furthermore, India also criticised Pakistan for being “in denial” and refusing to “acknowledge” Pulwama as a terror attack.
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“India is disappointed at Pakistan’s response to our detailed dossier on the Jaish-e-Mohammed’s complicity in the cross-border terror attack in Pulwama, the presence of its terror camps and leadership in Pakistan,” the Ministry of External Affairs said.
This comes after Pakistan sought “further information and evidence” from India to take forward investigations into the ghastly terror attack, nearly a month after the dossier’s submission.
“Regrettably, Pakistan continues to be in denial and even refuses to acknowledge Pulwama as a terror attack. It has not shared details of credible action, if any, taken by it against terrorists or terrorist organizations based in territories under its control,” they added,
The MEA noted that Pakistan was going by an “identical script”, and said: “We are hardly surprised, as this identical script was followed by Pakistan in the past, after the terror attacks in Mumbai in 2008 or in Pathankot in 2016.”
“It is a well-known fact that the UN-designated terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammed and its leader Masood Azhar are based in Pakistan. This was again acknowledged recently to international media by Pakistan’s Foreign Minister. There’s no dearth of sufficient actionable information and evidence in Pakistan itself to take action against them if there is sincerity and intent to do so,” the ministry said, adding that they would examine the paper handed over by Pakistan “nonetheless”.
“Pakistan should abide by the commitment it gave in 2004, and which its current leadership has recently repeated, vowing not to allow any territory under its control to be used for terrorism against India in any manner. Pakistan should take immediate, credible, irreversible and verifiable actions against terrorists and terror organizations operating from territories under its control,” India reiterated.
This comes in the wake of the United States, France and the UK renewing efforts to proscribe Azhar at the UN Security Council, despite China placing a technical hold on the previous resolutions. The new resolution just needs the support of nine out of 15 members, which is already there.
If this resolution gets through, it can spell trouble for Masood and can be seen as a big diplomatic victory for India. China has also indicated that it understands India’s concern on Azhar and that the issue would be resolved soon.
India lost over 40 CRPF personnel last month after a JeM operative attacked their convoy with an explosive-laden vehicle in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama. The incident has been widely condemned, as countries threw their weight behind India in its fight against terrorism in the wake of the attack.