Imran Khan giving a ‘lame excuse’, says India

‘Pakistan PM has not chosen to condemn the heinous act’

February 19, 2019 07:17 pm | Updated June 09, 2020 12:26 pm IST - NEW DELHI:

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s offer to investigate the Pulwama terror attack is a “lame excuse”, the External Affairs Ministry said on Tuesday.

“The Prime Minister of Pakistan has offered to investigate the matter if India provides proof. This is a lame excuse ... Prime Minister of Pakistan has neither chosen to condemn this heinous act nor condoled with the bereaved families,” a press release from the Ministry said.

Putting forward the Indian position, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley criticised Imran Khan saying the attack at Pulwama drew universal condemnation.“There is not even a pretext of an outright condemnation of the incident,” said Mr. Jaitley describing Pakistan’s demand for actionable intelligence as “shallow logic”.

The Ministry’s statement singled out Pakistan Minister Noorul-Haq Qadri’s appearance with Hafiz Saeed in an event last year, and said that Imran Khan’s “new Pakistan” was also responsible for promoting terrorism.

“It is regrettable that the Pakistani Prime Minister has insinuated that India’s response to the terrorism attack is determined by the forthcoming General Election,” the Ministry said.

The international campaign of India to counter Pakistan continued on Tuesday with senior diplomats briefing Arab diplomats about India’s anguish. Pakistan summoned the Acting Indian High Commissioner and raised security concerns regarding its mission here after protests reached the gate of the High Commission.

The Congress raised Pakistan’s proximity to Saudi Arabia, and urged the Centre to raise the issue with Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

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