Pakistan evades accountability for Pahalgam attack, seeks China's support

During the call, Dar tried to avoid taking responsibility and shifted the blame to India, rejecting India's "unilateral actions and baseless propaganda" as false accusations against Pakistan.

Sharing a post on X on Sunday, Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote, "Deputy Prime Minister / Foreign Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar @MIshaqDar50, today held a telephone conversation with Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi. DPM/FM briefed FM Wang Yi on current regional situation."

The post added, "Expressing deep appreciation for China's consistent and unwavering support, DPM/FM reaffirmed Pakistan's strong commitment to the iron-clad Pakistan-China friendship and the shared vision of an All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership. He emphasised Pakistan's determination to deepen bilateral cooperation across all spheres further. Both sides reiterated their firm resolve to uphold regional peace and stability, promote mutual respect and understanding, and jointly oppose unilateralism and hegemonic policies."

https://x.com/ForeignOfficePk/status/1916420431721922679

Meanwhile, Wang Yi during the phone call with his Pakistani counterpart said that China is closely following the evolving situation of the tensions between Pakistan and India following the terrorist attack in the Kashmir region, supporting the prompt initiation of an impartial investigation, hoping both sides will exercise restraint, move toward each other, and work to de-escalate tensions, according to a report by Global Times.

Despite Pakistan's Defence Minister Khwaja Asif admitting in a recent viral video conversation with Sky News' Yalda Hakim that Pakistan has been funding and supporting terrorist groups, claiming, "We have been doing this dirty work for the United States for about three decades... and the West, including Britain..."

Wang stated that combating terrorism constitutes a shared responsibility of all nations. China consistently supports Pakistan's firm counter-terrorism actions.

The conversation between the foreign ministers of Pakistan and China follows Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's statement expressing Islamabad's willingness to participate in a "neutral, transparent, and credible" investigation into the Pahalgam terror attack, as India garnered global support, intensifying pressure on the Pakistani establishment in the aftermath of the attack.

Following the terror attack, the Indian government had announced several diplomatic measures against Pakistan, such as closing the Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Attari, suspending the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) for Pakistani nationals, giving them 40 hours to return to their country, and reducing the number of officers in the High Commissions on both sides.

India also halted the Indus Waters Treaty signed in 1960 in the wake of the Pahalgam attack.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also assured the country that the terrorists responsible for this attack, along with those who conspired to commit it, will face punishment beyond their imagination. The Prime Minister asserted that the time has come to eliminate the remaining strongholds of terrorism and that the willpower of 140 crore Indians will now break the backbone of the perpetrators of terror. (ANI)