NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday demanded that rival Pakistan take "credible and visible action" over a major suicide attack in Kashmir as it sternly rebuffed Prime Minister Imran Khan's offer to investigate the bombing.
Amid a new spike in tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours, Khan earlier demanded that India give "actionable evidence" to back its claim of Pakistan's backing for the suicide bomber.
While offering an investigation, Khan also said Pakistan would retaliate if attacked over the bombing, claimed by a Pakistan-based group, which killed at least 41 Indian paramilitaries.
"The prime minister of Pakistan has offered to investigate the matter if India provides proof. This is a lame excuse," said an Indian foreign ministry statement.
"We demand Pakistan to stop misleading the international community and take credible and visible action against the perpetrators of Pulwama terrorist attack."
Since last Thursday's attack on the military convoy in the Pulwama district of Kashmir, Indian forces have launched widespread operations against Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which claimed responsibility for the bombing.
Three JeM leaders, four Indian soldiers and a civilian were killed in a gun battle Monday, according to Indian officials. The Indian military has said the bombing was "masterminded" by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence branch.
Pakistan has denied any role in the attack and in a nationally televised address, Khan said that if his country was attacked "Pakistan won't just think to retaliate. Pakistan will retaliate."
Election boost
Thousands have marched in Indian cities in recent days to pay homage to the dead and demanding a firm government response.
The Indian government has already withdrawn trade privileges for Pakistan, ended police protection for four Kashmiri separatist leaders, and halted some cross-border services.
Khan said his Indian counterpart, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, would get a boost in a looming national election if New Delhi staged an attack on Pakistan.
It was "easy to start a war", Khan said, while expressing hope that "better sense will prevail".
Khan said that if any militant group was using Pakistani soil to launch attacks, "its enmity is with us. This is against our interest".
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi pleaded on Tuesday with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to intervene in the escalating row.
"The United Nations must step in to defuse tensions," wrote Qureshi in a message shared with journalists.
Walk the talk Mehbooba to Imran Khan
(PTI)
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti Tuesday said Pakistan was not being blamed for the Pulawama terror attack without any evidence and asked its Prime Minister Imran Khan to walk the talk.
However, Mufti said Khan deserves a chance since he has recently taken over the reins of the country.
"Disagree. Pathankot dossier was given to them (Pakistan) but no action was taken to punish the perpetrators. Time to walk the talk," Mehbooba said in a tweet.
"But Pak PM deserves a chance since he has recently taken over. Of course the war rhetoric (in India) has more to do with the impending elections that anything else (sic)," she added.
Khan on Tuesday assured India that he would act against the perpetrators of the Pulwama terror attack if New Delhi shares "actionable intelligence".
Indian ready for counter-attack: Sitharaman
(IANS)
The Indian armed forces are ready for counter-attack as their morale is high despite the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14, said Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday.
"The response of all Indians to the terror attack in Pulwama has made our armed forces assert they are ready to retaliate against the enemy squarely," Sitharaman told reporters in Bengaluru.
Clarifying that the terror attack on the Central Reserved Police Force (CRPF) troops, in which 40 of them died, had not affected the armed forces in any way, the Minister said they (jawans) were ready to do their job.
"The terror attack has not affected their morale at all. It is our duty to keep their morale high. We are here to stand by them," said Sitharaman at a press meet ahead of the biennial "Aero India 2019" air show in this aerospace hub from Wednesday.
Noting that she would respond to the queries on Pulwama attack after getting more information on it, the Minister said she could not disclose what the Defence Ministry was planning in order to avoid similar attack in future.
"We cannot disclose what we are planning to do to avoid similar attacks in the future," Sitharaman said in response to a query by IANS.
"Every effort will be made to prevent such events. But if there has been a change in a strategy or lapse, it won't be fair for me to talk about it at this moment," the Defence Minister said.
She said though India sent evidence to Pakistan on terror attacks in the country since terrorists from its side came to Mumbai on November 26, 2008, its government did not take any action against them.
"Since the Mumbai attack on November 26, 2008, the previous (UPA) government had sent evidence to Pakistan, but they did not take any action. Even our (NDA) government sent evidence of involvement of non-state actors but no action has been taken so far," Sitharaman said.
"Pakistan has nothing to show that they have taken action after evidence provided for earlier attackers," she stressed.
