Pakistan recalls envoy from New Delhi amid Pulwama attack allegations

ISLAMABAD : In the wake of the Pulwama attack and baseless allegations from New Delhi, which killed at least 44 Indian security personnel in occupied Kashmir, Pakistan on Monday recalled its high commissioner from India.

According to the Foreign Office (FO), the envoy has been recalled to Islamabad for ‘consultations’.

Suhail Mahmood left New Delhi on Monday morning, confirmed the FO.

Pakistan launched a diplomatic offensive to counter Indian attempts to link Islamabad with Thursday’s Pulwama attack.

Hours after New Delhi pointed fingers at Pakistan and threatened to take “revenge”, Pakistan on Friday reached out to the five permanent members of United National Security Council (UNSC) to offset the Indian propaganda.

Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua invited ambassadors of P-5 countries — US, China, Russia, Britain and France — at the foreign ministry to brief them about the worsening situation. Janjua strongly rejected Indian allegations against Pakistan following the attack.

“She noted a familiar Indian pattern of immediate and reflexive assignment of blame on Pakistan without investigations,” according to a statement issued by the foreign office. The foreign secretary said that Pakistan had pursued a “constructive approach” towards India, it added.

“Pakistan’s offer of dialogue and the Kartarpur initiative are a clear evidence of this,” the statement quoted the foreign secretary as saying. “Ratcheting up tensions in the region will be counterproductive,” she told the envoys.

Meanwhile, Pakistan put its troops along the LoC and the WB on ‘high alert’ to deal with any ‘misadventure’ from across the border in the wake of Thursday’s deadly attack in Indian-Occupied Kashmir, officials here said.

The attack — around 20 kilometres from the city of Srinagar on the main highway to Jammu — apparently claimed by the banned Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) was the worst in Indian-occupied Kashmir in three decades.

Source: The Express Tribune