Pakistan Hands Over 'Preliminary Findings' to India Over Pulwama Attack

Guwahati: Pakistan has handed 'preliminary findings' to India over the last month's suicide bombing in Pulwama at Jammu and Kashmir claimed by Pakistan based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad.

The terror attack in Pulwama has been denied by Pakistan and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan offered cooperation in the investigation if credible evidence was provided by India.

The Pakistan foreign ministry said in a statement that the Pakistan Government has shared preliminary findings with the Indian Government after examining the Indian report on Pulwama incident. The statement also mentioned that the Pakistan government sought further information/evidence from India to take the process forward without giving any further details including the nature of evidence sought.

The Pakistan foreign ministry further informed that while 54 detained individuals are being investigated, no details linking them to Pulwama have been found so far. It also said that the 22 pin locations shared by India have also been examined and that no such camp exists. Pakistan is willing to allow visits on request to these locations.

The statement further reads as, "All aspects of the information provided by India have been thoroughly examined including the confessional video of Adil Dar who drove a mini-van laden with explosives beside a CRPF convoy and detonated it. The WhatsApp and Telegram numbers used to share videos and messages in support of Pulwama attack have been examined."

India launched a cross-border air strike in Balakot days after the Pulwama attack that kicked off a dogfight in which India lost a MiG-21 Bison fighter jet and also shot down a Pakistani F-16.

The United States, France and Britain stepped up a push for the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to blacklist the Chief of Jaish-e-Mohammad Masood Azhar after China prevented an earlier move two weeks ago.

A resolution has been circulated by the United States with the support of British and French to the 15 member council that would designate Azhar subjecting him to an arms embargo, travel ban and asset freeze.

Earlier, The US, Britain and France asked the Islamic states of the Security Council and Al Qaeda sanctions committee to blacklist Azhar which operates by consensus but China prevented the move.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang, however, said that China had conducted a comprehensive and thorough evaluation but still needed more time to consider the proposal. China had previously prevented the committee from sanctioning Azhar in 2016 and 2017.

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