30 Indian paramilitary soldiers were killed in the Pulwama attack.
New Delhi:
Pakistan was responsible for the terror attack in Pulwama of Jammu and Kashmir last year in which 40 Indian paramilitary soldiers were killed, a Pakistani minister told the country’s legislature, in an apparent admission of the country’s role in sponsoring cross-border terrorism.
“Humne Hindustan ko ghus ke maara (We arrived in India at his home). Our success at Pulwama is a success of the people under the leadership of Imran Khan. You and we are all part of that success, “Minister Fawad Chaudhury said at the national assembly.
When the statement caused an uproar in the assembly, he appeared to change course, rephrasing his line as: “Pulwama ke waqiyeh ke baad, jab humne India ko ghus ke maara (When we arrived in India at his home after the Pulwama incident. “
India responded to the February 14 suicide attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy in Pulwama with airstrikes on a terrorist camp in Balakot, Pakistan. Pakistan retaliated by sending fighter jets against Indian military installations.
The attack was blocked by the Indian Air Force, but an Indian plane crossed the Line of Control and its pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was captured by Pakistani forces. He was released two days later.
Pakistani Minister Fawad Chaudhury’s admission of Pulwama came in a debate over opposition leader Ayaz Sadiq’s recent revelation of a meeting between Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, after the aerial encounter.
According to the opposition leader, Qureshi told a visibly nervous general Bajwa unless he freed wing commander Varthaman, India would attack Pakistan “that night at 9 pm”.
“I remember Shah Mahmood Qureshi was at the meeting where (Prime Minister) Imran Khan refused to attend and the Chief of the Army General Staff, General Bajwa, walked into the room, his legs were shaking and he was sweating. Foreign Minister said, for God’s sake, that Abhinandan, wow, India is about to attack Pakistan at 9 pm, “Sadiq had said.
The comment, which is part of an attack on Imran Khan’s government by the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party, has caused a storm in Islamabad, prompting a defensive response from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.
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