New Delhi, April 26 -- Pakistan on Saturday offered to join any "neutral and transparent" probe into the Pahalgam terrorist attack, drawing sharp criticism by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Union Minister of State for Education Sukanta Majumdar.
"The recent tragedy in Pahalgam is yet another example of this perpetual blame game, which must come to a grinding halt. Continuing with its role as a responsible country, Pakistan is open to participating in any neutral, transparent and credible investigation," Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said while addressing the army-cadets passing-out parade at the Pakistan Military Academy in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa's Kakul.
Echoing his views, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi in a press conference in Lahore said: "If neutral people of any third country carry out a probe into this incident, we are ready to cooperate with them." First, they (Pakistan) did not accept that something happened in Pahalgam. Then, they even said it was done by India. They were the ones who first accused us, so it's difficult to say anything about them," Abdullah told reporters reacting to Sharif's remarks.
"I do not want to comment much on their (Pakistani leaders) statements. I regret the incident, which should not have happened," he added.
Meanwhile, dismissing the Pakistani PM's comments as a "fear-driven" response to India's growing assertiveness, Majumdar said: "What investigation will these people do? Can a thief ever investigate his own theft?"
"The Prime Minister of Pakistan is saying this out of fear. This fear is good, he should have this fear. When Pakistan is not prepared, that's when we will hit them, and we will hit them hard," he added.
Earlier, talking about the suspension of the Indus Water Treaty by India, Sharif said: "Any attempt to stop, reduce or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan would be responded to with full force and might."
Sharif threatened to use all options if the water of its share was stopped by India.
"Water is our lifeline and a vital national interest, and its availability will be safeguarded at all costs and under all circumstances," he said.
He said the entire nation stood by the armed forces of Pakistan to safeguard every inch of the homeland. "Our valiant armed forces are capable and remain fully prepared to defend the country's sovereignty and its territorial integrity against any misadventure," he said.
"Our armed forces are a symbol of valour, exemplary discipline and unwavering commitment to the nation."
"Peace is our preference but must not be construed as our weakness," the Pakistani PM said, adding that "we will never compromise on our dignity and security of the country". Sharif said: "Pakistan has always condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations."
"We have endured immense loss of over 90,000 casualties and economic losses exceeding $600 billion," he said, adding that there cannot be a more powerful manifestation of "our commitment that we will not tolerate any kind of terrorism of any hue and colour".
Sharif said he regretted that India "continued the pattern of exploitation, levelling baseless allegations and false accusations without a credible investigation or verifiable evidence". Separately,at the press conference in Lahore, Pakistani Interior Minister Naqvi said Pakistan is handling the situation which arose after the Pahalgam attack "with patience" and warned India of taking any step towards war.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.