New Delhi: India on Thursday criticised Pakistan for seeking additional proof after studying the Pulwama dossier, and accused it of continuing to support terror organizations while refusing to acknowledge Pulwama suicide bombing as an attack. India’s response came a day after Pakistan said that it had handed over a report on its preliminary investigation into the Pulawama attack to Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria. The investigation, as per Pakistan, yielded no evidence of the presence of terror outfits on its soil.In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said that India was disappointed at Pakistan’s response to the detailed dossier on the Jaish-e-Mohammed’s complicity in the cross-border terror attack in Pulwama, as well as the presence of its terror camps and leadership in Pakistan. “It has not shared details of credible action, if any, taken by it against terrorists or terrorist organizations based in territories under its control. 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,” the MEA said. Notably, hours before the MEA statement, Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Muhammad Faisal said that India’s dossier established no connection between Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar and the Pulwama attack. India had handed over the dossier to the Acting High Commissioner of Pakistan in New Delhi on February 27 with specific details of Pakistan-based terror group JeM’s complicity in the Pulwama attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel on February 14 and the presence of JeM terror camps and its leadership in Pakistan.
India upped its ante on Thursday and in the MEA statement noted statement made by Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi. “It is a well-known fact that the UN-designated terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammed and its leader Masood Azhar are based in Pakistan. This was again acknowledged recently to international media by Pakistan’s Foreign Minister. 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,” the MEA said, adding that it was examining the paper handed over by its neighbour. Calling Pakistan to abide by the commitment it gave in 2004 which has been repeated by the recent leadership, of not allowing terror organizations on its territory, the MEA added that “Pakistan should take immediate, credible, irreversible and verifiable actions against terrorists and terror organizations operating from territories under its control.”
