Pakistan on Sunday said that former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik’s recent claims about the Pulwama attack have vindicated its stand that New Delhi used “lies and deceit” for its propaganda against Islamabad.

On February 14, 2019, an explosive-laden car driven by a suicide bomber rammed into a bus carrying Central Reserve Police Force personnel, killing 40 of them in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district. Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed had claimed responsibility for the attack.

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On Friday, Malik told The Wire in an interview that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked him not to speak about lapses that led to the terror attack. Malik claimed that the attack took place due to the incompetence and negligence of the Central Reserve Police Force and the Union home ministry, which was then headed by Rajnath Singh.

In a statement on Sunday, Pakistan’s foreign ministry demanded that India should respond to the questions raised by Malik’s claims and be held “accountable for the actions that imperiled regional peace” after the Pulwama attack.

“His [Malik] disclosures demonstrate how the Indian leadership has habitually used the bogey of terrorism from Pakistan to advance its sham victimhood narrative and the Hindutva agenda, clearly for domestic political gains,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry said.

In the interview on Friday, Malik had claimed that the CRPF had asked for aircraft to ferry their personnel, because such a big convoy did not normally travel by road. The convoy comprised 78 vehicles that were transporting over 2,500 personnel.

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Malik told The Wire that the paramilitary force only needed five aircraft, but these were not provided to it. He added that besides Modi, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval also asked him not to speak about the matter.

Opposition parties have also targeted the Centre on the matter, questioning whether the attack that took place months ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections was staged for political gains.