Indian agencies sheltering armed foreigners in Srinagar: Dar

Islamabad: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has urged India to share any evidence with the international community if it believes Pakistan was involved in the recent Pahalgam attack. 

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday alongside Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and other cabinet members, Dar strongly denied India’s allegations, calling the incident a “false flag operation.”

He said Pakistan has intelligence showing that some foreigners arrived in Srinagar with weapons and were being supported by Indian intelligence agencies. These individuals, he said, were trying to bring improvised explosive devices (IEDs) into the region. 

Dar emphasized that Pakistan’s armed forces are fully prepared to respond to any aggression from India. He warned that if India withdraws security from the Pakistani embassy in New Delhi, Pakistan will respond accordingly. 

The press conference followed a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC), which issued a strong warning to India. The NSC stated that any attempt to divert Pakistan’s rightful share of water under the Indus Waters Treaty would be considered an "act of war." This statement comes in reaction to India’s unilateral decision to suspend the decades-old water-sharing agreement and its other hostile moves following the Pahalgam incident. 

The deadly attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) on Tuesday left 26 people dead, including one Nepali national. India quickly blamed Pakistan, a charge that Islamabad firmly rejected. 

Dar also referred to the 2019 incident when Pakistan captured Indian pilot Abhinandan, reminding India that Pakistan is capable of delivering a strong response if provoked. He further stated that Pakistan is considering suspending the Simla Agreement in retaliation to India’s actions against the Indus Waters Treaty. 

“We will consult our friendly countries and inform the World Bank about India’s illegal move,” Dar said. He added that the decisions made in the NSC meeting would be officially delivered to the Indian envoy through a demarche. 

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also spoke at the press conference and launched a sharp attack on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He referred to Modi as a “certified terrorist ruler” and claimed that leaders of terrorist groups like TTP and BLA are being hosted in India. 

He warned that if any attacks were carried out on Pakistani citizens, India would face consequences. “We are fully ready to respond to any kind of terrorism,” he added.