India on Thursday said it was disappointed at Pakistan’s response to the dossier New Delhi had submitted in connection with the Pulwama attack. The Ministry of External Affairs said Pakistan had not shared details of any credible action taken by it against terrorists or terror outfits in its territory.
However, the Indian ministry said it is examining the paper handed over by Islamabad.
On Wednesday, Pakistan had claimed it has examined 22 locations of alleged terror training camps shared by India in connection with the Pulwama terror attack, but found no such camps. The country also said it had shared preliminary findings of its investigations with India and had sought additional evidence to take the process forward.
India had on February 27 handed over a dossier to Pakistan “with specific details of Jaish-e-Mohammad’s complicity in the Pulwama terror attack and the presence of Jaish terror camps and its leadership in Pakistan”. New Delhi had demanded immediate action from Islamabad against terrorist groups operating from its soil.
In its statement on Thursday, India said: “Regrettably, Pakistan continues to be in denial and even refuses to acknowledge Pulwama as a terror attack. 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.”
India said it is well-known that the Jaish-e-Mohammad and its leader Masood Azhar are based in Pakistan. “This was again acknowledged recently to international media by Pakistan’s Foreign Minister,” the statement said. “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 statement further said: “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 organisations operating from territories under its control.”
Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal on Thursday said India’s dossier could not corroborate New Delhi’s claims that Pakistan-based elements were involved in the attack. Pakistan said the dossier also did not mention India’s claim that Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar was linked to the attack, Dawn reported.
In its statement on Wednesday, Pakistan’s foreign ministry had claimed that only two sections of the nine-part dossier were related to the Pulwama attack and that the rest were “generalised allegations”. The ministry said Islamabad had examined India’s claim and had asked service providers for data of the GSM number provided by India. Pakistan said it had asked the United States to allow WhatsApp to assist it in its investigation.
“While 54 detained individuals are being investigated, no details linking them to Pulwama have been found so far,” Pakistan’s statement said. “Similarly, the 22 pin locations shared by India have been examined. No such camps exist. Pakistan is willing to allow visits, on request, to these locations.”
Islamabad said it needs more information from India to continue its investigation into its claims.
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