New Delhi: Taking up Pakistan PM Imran Khan's offer of providing evidence and intel on Pulwama attack, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh wasted no time in informing the former that Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar — the mastermind behind the attack — was living in Bahawalpur, Pakistan, and was aided by ISI.
Amarinder then prodded Pakistan PM to "go pick him up from there".
"Dear @ImranKhanPTI you have Jaish chief Masood Azhar sitting in Bahawalpur & masterminding the attacks with ISI help. Go pick him up from there. If you can’t let us know, we’ll do it for you. BTW what has been done about the proofs of Mumbai’s 26/11 attack. Time to walk the talk," tweeted Amarinder.
Dear @ImranKhanPTI you have Jaish chief Masood Azhar sitting in Bahawalpur & masterminding the attacks with ISI help. Go pick him up from there. If you can’t let us know, we’ll do it for you. BTW what has been done about the proofs of Mumbai’s 26/11 attack. Time to walk the talk. pic.twitter.com/Zct6I7QieY— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) February 19, 2019
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti too joined the debate and urged the Pakistan PM to "walk the talk".
"In ths time of grief & outrage, attempts will be made to divide us. Religions & identities will be pitted against each other. Hindu vs Mus. Jam vs Kash. Our pain musnt fuel such diabolical plans. Because eventually, the axe forgets but the tree remembers," Mehbooba tweeted.
Disagree. Pathankot dossier was given to them but no action was taken to punish the perpetrators . Time to walk the talk. But Pak PM deserves a chance since he’s recently taken over. Of course the war rhetoric has more to do with the impending elections than anything else. https://t.co/QIOxkzuSth— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) February 19, 2019
Accusing India of playing judge and jury, Khan said New Delhi had blamed the attack on Islamabad “without any proof". The address comes a day after his government shot off a letter to the UN, seeking its urgent intervention to defuse tensions with India despite New Delhi repeatedly refusing third-party negotiations on the Kashmir issue in keeping with the Shimla Accord.
Denying Pakistani link to the attack, he said, "What will Pakistan benefit from this? We as a nation are moving towards stability. Don't blame us."
Khan, however, said his government was willing to cooperate if India shared evidence and intel on the attack. "India blamed Pakistan without proof. We have lost lakhs of Pakistanis in our fight to maintain peace. Why will we jeopardise that?" He then said that if there is any intel against Pakistan, the country will give its full cooperation to the investigation.
In the aftermath of the attack, India has revoked the most favoured nation status it had accorded to Pakistan unilaterally 23 years ago to further restrict trade between the two nations and the government has also raised the custom duties on imports from Pakistan to 200 per cent. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised that Pakistan will have to pay a price for the attack and warned that security forces have been given full freedom to retaliate.
The government is also in talks with the United States to push for the designation of JeM chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, but its efforts have not borne any fruits because of resistance from China. In efforts to isolate Pakistan diplomatically, the ministry of external affairs also met envoys of 25 nations in the capital to present its case on Pakistan’s hand in the Pulwama terror strike.
Comments
0 comment