ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar on Monday said that a recent attack in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam was an attempt to “divert attention” from India’s internal challenges and its cross-border terrorism.
The April 22 attack in Pahalgam killed 26 people, mostly tourists, in one of the deadliest assaults since 2000. India, without investigation or evidence, implied “cross-border linkages” of the attackers. Pakistan has firmly rejected the claim and called for a neutral probe.
Tensions have since spiked, with Pakistan reinforcing its forces as it expected an incursion and India’s premier granting “operational freedom” to his military. As temperatures remain high, with the military warning of a “swift” response to any misadventure by New Delhi, diplomatic channels have remained engaged to prevent conflict.
Addressing the Regional Dialogue 2025 in Islamabad today, organised by the Institute of Regional Studies, Dar said Pakistan believed the Pahalgam attack was part of an effort to “divert attention” from India’s internal challenges, adding that it could be “self-choreographed”.
“We believe that what has happened is to divert attention — I am talking of Pahalgam — from India’s internal challenges, state-sponsored terrorism, the ongoing human rights violations in the Indian Illegally Occupied Kashmir, and to gain narrow domestic political objectives,” Dar said.
“Don’t forget that there are some by-elections coming in the next few months in India,” he added, referring to the upcoming polls in Bihar in October.
“This brinkmanship carries consequences that extend far beyond India’s borders,” the deputy PM warned, calling India’s actions “unilateral, politically-motivated and highly provocative”.
He noted: “There appears to be a calculated and premeditated attempt to escalate regional tensions, following a familiar pattern — level allegations against Pakistan without evidence, use inflammatory rhetoric, incite war hysteria and use this as a pretext for aggression and unilateral actions.”
In a reference to the Indian government, Dar stressed that regional and international peace and security could not be “sacrificed at the altar of narrow electoral gains”.
“This is a dangerous political game and gamble, putting at stake the lives of millions in the region,” the foreign minister highlighted. However, he also reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to regional peace: “We will support all efforts towards de-escalation.”
“Analysts say this could be another ploy. It might have been self-choreographed,” echoing Pakistani leaders’ previous statements of the Pahalgam attack being a “false flag operation”.
“How can an FIR (first information report) be registered in 10 minutes at a police station where you need at least 45 minutes to reach? […] Come on. Nobody’s a fool,” Dar quipped.
“International dignitaries are talking [to] both sides. Few of them — great friends — suggested to me, ‘Can you try and help the perpetrators be caught?’ I said ‘come on, do you know the distance where it happened and where’s the Line of Control? 230 kilometres.”
The deputy PM asserted: “Pakistan has exposed India’s mala fide and they are now on the backfoot. But it takes two to tango. I am telling all these dignitaries that we will show patience and will not be the first ones to attack.
“But if anybody makes any mistake and ventures into adventurism, then God knows what situation that will lead to. I hope sense prevails and they should [reflect].”
He detailed that he has directed Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations to request a meeting of the UN Security Council.
“Let’s share with them the facts and figures and the details and the evidence we showed the other day,” said Dar, referring to his press briefing with the military’s spokesperson, where they accused India of activating its “assets” to intensify terrorist attacks in Pakistan.
“I cannot find the word abeyance in any international treaties’ dictionary. The word suspension is there,” Dar said, referring to India’s unilateral suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty.
