On Friday, the Minister of Pakistan Defense declared his country’s innocence in a terrorist attack which killed 26 people this week in a disputed territory of the cashmere controlled by India, and said that an international investigation on the attack was necessary.
In an interview, Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said that the country was “ready to cooperate” with “any investigation by international inspectors”.
The minister’s remarks seemed to aim to defuse tensions with India, after armed activists attacked a group of tourists on Tuesday near Pahalgam, a city in southern cashmere. It was the deadliest terrorist attack against the land administered by the Indians for years.
Since then, India has quickly moved to take measures against Pakistan, which also controls part of the cashmere, including closing the border passages and suspending a crucial water pact. India officials said they suspected the involvement of at least two Pakistani nationals in the attack.
Asif said that India used the consequences of the terrorist attack as a pretext to suspend the water Treaty and for domestic political purposes. India, he said, took action to punish Pakistan “without any evidence, without any investigation”.
Pakistani officials asked the Trump administration to Medier the dispute.
