ISLAMABAD: Islamabad on Saturday rejected Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “insinuation” that Pakistan was involved in a Feb. 2019 bombing in the Pulwama district of Indian-administered Kashmir which killed 40 Indian soldiers and pushed the two nuclear-armed neighbors to the brink of war. 

“This is a brazen attempt to twist the remarks of the federal minister, who was referring to the befitting response given by the Pakistan Armed Forces in broad day-light to India’s ill-conceived misadventure of 26 February 2019, in violation of the UN Charter and international law,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday night. 

On Saturday, during a public gathering in Gujarat, PM Modi said: “After the neighboring country accepted responsibility for the attack in its parliament, the true nature of the people who resorted to ugly politics during our difficult time has been uncovered....” 

“Now that the Pakistan parliament has admitted to the truth, all such people stand completely exposed. What they said and did in the wake of the Pulwama attack are glaring examples of the extent to which such people can go for their selfish interest and ego,” he said. 

Modi was referring to the recent remarks by cabinet minister Fawad Chaudhry who, during an address to the National Assembly, said: “we hit India in their home after the incident in Pulwama”. 

In a tweet on Thursday, however, he said that he was referring to the incident “when our planes targeted combat installations”. 

“We do not show bravery by killing innocents, and we condemn terrorism,” he added. 

On the same day, Chaudhry’s media team posted a tweet clarifying that he was referring to Islamabad’s response after India sent its fighter jets and violated Pakistani airspace.

“He was mentioning the events after Pulwama attack. The misadventure of Hindustan and the way Pakistan gave you the bloody nose, which is still hurting!,” the tweet read. 

The Pulwama bombing was the single deadliest attack in the disputed region and escalated tensions between India and Pakistan. 

New Delhi, in response, launched an airstrike against alleged militant training camps inside Pakistan, saying it had hit one and killed “a very large number” of militants. 

Pakistan, however, said the strike had “only damaged three trees in a forest.” 

It then responded by shooting down an Indian warplane and capturing a pilot, who was then returned to New Delhi as a peace gesture, based on Prime Minister Imran Khan’s directive. 

The Foreign Ministry statement on Saturday, however, blamed the Indian government’s “incurable obsession with Pakistan” for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) allegations. 

“It is the BJP leadership’s incurable obsession with Pakistan that impels them to invariably blame Pakistan for their own failings and shortcomings,” the statement said. 

It added that the blame game was “part and parcel” of the BJP’s electoral strategy “to galvanize voters’ support while seeking to divert public attention from their domestic and foreign policy failures.” 

Pakistan, it said, firmly believes that the “biggest beneficiary” of the Feb. 2019 attack was the BJP government, as it helped the party achieve a landslide victory in general elections “following their virulent anti-Pakistan campaign.” 

“On the other hand, to this day, India has failed to provide any credible evidence of Pakistan’s alleged involvement in the Pulwama attack,” the statement read. 

India has long accused Pakistan of harboring militant groups to work against New Delhi – allegations denied by Islamabad.