ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office on Wednesday rejected Indian Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement claiming New Delhi had killed all three militants involved in the Pahalgam attack, whom he said were allegedly Pakistani nationals, as ” replete with fabrications.”
Shah told parliamentarians during a debate on Tuesday that three militants involved in the April 22 attack in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam town had been killed in a joint operation by the military, paramilitary and police on the outskirts of Srinagar. Shah had also said that all three alleged attackers were Pakistani nationals.
Gunmen opened fire on tourists in Pahalgam on April 22, killing 26 in total. India blamed Islamabad for supporting the attack, which Pakistan denied. The attack started a four-day conflict between India and Pakistan in which over 70 people were killed on both sides of the border.
“The account given by the Indian Home Minister is replete with fabrications, leading to serious questions about its credibility,” the Pakistani foreign office said.
“Is it a mere coincidence that the alleged perpetrators of the Pahalgam Attack were killed at the start of the Lok Sabha debate?“
The foreign office said India did not avail Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s offer of a transparent inquiry into the Pahalgam attack, saying that it instead chose “the path of belligerence and aggression.”
The foreign office also rejected Delhi’s assertion that it had established a “new normal” in bilateral relations with Pakistan by carrying out strikes against alleged “terrorist” camps in the country in May.
“As we have already shown through our resolute actions in May 2025, we shall forcefully counter any future aggression,” the statement said.
“For us, the only ‘normal’ in bilateral relations is respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and adherence to the principles and purposes of the UN Charter.”
The foreign office concluded by saying that Pakistan remains a responsible state committed to peace and regional stability.
He said Islamabad wanted to pursue a “meaningful dialogue” for the resolution of all outstanding issues between the two nations, including that of the disputed Kashmir territory.
India and Pakistan, both nuclear-armed neighbors, have gone to war thrice since 1947 after gaining independence from British colonial rule. Two out of these wars have been over the territory of Kashmir.
Both claim the territory in full but administer only parts of it. India accuses Pakistan of arming and funding Kashmir militants, which Islamabad denies and says New Delhi fuels militancy in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provinces.
