Foreign secy says no faith in Pakistan's call for joint probe into Pahalgam
This story was originally published at 20:27 IST on 8 May 2025
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--Foreign Secy Misri: Apr 22 Pahalgam attack is the original escalation
--CONTEXT: External affairs ministry holds briefing on Operation Sindoor
--Foreign Secy Misri: Indian response has been non-escalatory, precise
--Foreign secy: Pakistan pursued cross-border terror into India for decades
--Foreign Secy Misri: We have targeted only terrorist infrastructure
--Foreign secy: Circumstances require re-looking Indus treaty obligations
--Foreign secy: Pakistan not accepted requests to re-negotiate Indus treaty
--Foreign Secy Misri: Can't answer questions on operational details
NEW DELHI – India has no confidence in Pakistan's call for a joint investigation into last month's deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir, with the past giving New Delhi no reason to take its neighbour at face value, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said Thursday.
"These calls for jointly investigating this heinous and barbaric attack in Pahalgam... you know the history well on this, you know the track record well. And it is not a bright track record in so far as Pakistan is concerned," Misri said at a media briefing.
The foreign secretary said India had co-operated multiple times with Pakistan in the past, including after the terrorist attack in Mumbai in 2008 and in Pathankot in 2016, giving extensive information and evidence only for Pakistan to consistently stonewall efforts to move the investigation along.
"In all of this, the experience has not been positive and it certainly doesn't give us the confidence now to take at face value Pakistani assertions of wishing to participate in a joint investigation," Misri said. "These are just delaying tactics, these are just stonewalling tactics. In fact, there is reason to believe that Pakistan uses the evidence that we provide only to cover its tracks and in fact defend the terrorists we are looking for, obstruct the path of investigation." Misri said Pakistan had promoted cross-border terrorism in India with impunity for decades.
Following the Apr. 22 attack in Pahalgam, which resulted in the death of 26 people, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had offered to participate in a "neutral and transparent" investigation.
Misri was addressing journalists after the Ministry of Defence released a statement earlier Thursday saying the armed forces had targeted air defence radars and systems at a number of locations across the border in response to attempts at military engagement Wednesday night by Pakistan. He argued that the Pahalgam attack was the "original escalation" and "Operation Sindoor" was only India's response to it. "Our intention has not been to escalate matters," the foreign secretary said. "We are only responding to the original escalations and our response has been targeted, precise, controlled, and measured. No military targets have been selected. Only terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan has been hit."
On India's decision to keep the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 in abeyance, Misri said circumstances had changed fundamentally and the obligations under the agreement warrant a reassessment. However, Pakistan had not responded to Indian requests to enter into negotiations to reassess the obligations.
"This is a treaty that was based on the engineering techniques of the '50s and the '60s," Misri said. "We are living through the first quarter of the 21st century. Technological changes and technological advancements have to be taken into account. There are demographic changes. There are climate changes that have taken place. There is the imperative of clean energy. And, of course, the terrorism that Pakistan has wreaked in the state of Jammu and Kashmir itself has hampered India's ability to exercise its rights under the treaty."
Responding to a question on whether India had sensitised the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank regarding the situation, given their financial assistance programmes for Pakistan, Misri said India's position would be "put forward" at the IMF's board meeting Friday. "The decisions of the (IMF) board are a different matter... But I think the case with regard to Pakistan should be self-evident to those people who generously open their pockets to bail out this country," Misri said. End
Reported by Kuldeep Singh
Edited by Rajeev Pai
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