ISLAMABAD, April 30: Pakistan on Wednesday claimed it has “credible intelligence” that India is planning military action against it in the next 24-36 hours and warned New Delhi that there would be consequences.
The statement came hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday told the top defence brass that the armed forces have “complete operational freedom” to decide on the mode, targets and timing of India’s response to the Pahalgam terror attack, government sources said.
Tensions have risen between the two countries after the Pahalgam terror attack last week that killed 26 people. Modi had said that India will “identify, track, and punish” the terrorist and their “backers” attack and pursue the killers to the “ends of the earth”, as India stepped up the diplomatic offensive against Pakistan.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the Indian government is preparing to carry out military action against Pakistan on the basis of “baseless and concocted allegations” regarding Pakistan’s involvement in the recent terror attack in Pahalgam.
According to the statement, the minister said Pakistan had itself been a victim of terrorism and had always condemned it in all its forms and manifestations.
He added that Islamabad had offered a “credible, transparent and independent” probe by a neutral commission of experts, and accused India of evading investigation and choosing a confrontational path.
Pakistan urged the international community to remain alive warning that any military adventurism by India would be “responded to assuredly and decisively” and that the “onus of any escalatory spiral and its consequences shall squarely lie with India.”
Earlier, India announced a raft of measures against Pakistan including expulsion of Pakistani military attaches, suspension of the Indus Water Treaty of 1960, revokement of all visas issued to Pakistani nationals from April 27 and immediate shutting down of the Attari land-transit post.
In another development, the Cabinet Committee on Security headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is understood to have reviewed the overall security situation in Jammu and Kashmir amid speculations about India’s possible response to the Pahalgam terror attack.
The CCS took place on Wednesday, a day after PM Modi held a meeting with the top defence brass on the Pahalgam attack.
It was attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, people familiar with the matter said. (PTI)
