‘Dossier’ fails to link Pakistan, JeM chief with Pulwama attack

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Thursday said the Indian ‘dossier’ on Pulwama suicide bombing had completely failed to prove links of Pakistan or Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar with the incident.

In his weekly press briefing here, Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal said the preliminary probe by Pakistan into the incident after receiving the Indian dossier had proven no links of Pakistan or Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) head Maulana Masood Azhar with the incident. He said a 10-member investigation team of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) spent weeks studying the ‘dossier’ soon after it was handed over to the Pakistani authorities, and detained a number of people.

He said the Indian dossiernamed more than 90 people but there was no evidence linking the JeM chief Masood Azhar or Pakistan with the attack.

He said Pakistan had informed India that it was ready to cooperate if they had any actionable intelligence and evidence. Dr Faisal said de-escalation had not yet happened with India in the wake of Pulwama incident.

Commenting on the United States’ latest resolution in the UN Security Council to blacklist Masood Azhar, Dr Faisal said it was a technical issue and the UNSC 1267 Sanctions Committee was the appropriate forum to address it.

When asked about a tweet by Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on two Hindu girls from Ghotki, Sindh, Dr Faisal termed it a “desperate electioneering ploy” by the Indian leadership.

The spokesperson also drew attention towards the ongoing human rights violations in the Indian-Held Kashmir as well as forced conversion of Muslims in India to Hinduism. “Human rights should transcend politics,” he added. The spokesperson urged the international community to pressurise India to halt its state-sponsored terrorism in the IHK and help resolve the lingering dispute.

Responding to a question, he said Pakistan had taken up the issue of security of its prisoners in India with the Indian government. Meanwhile, India Thursday said it was disappointed at Pakistan’s response to the ‘dossier’ on Pulwama attack, the Indian media reports.

In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs took the stance that Pakistan had not shared details of any credible action taken by it against terrorists or terror outfits. However, the Indian ministry said it was examining the paper handed over by Islamabad.

The statement 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.”

“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,” said the statement.