Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has vehemently denied India's allegations of Pakistani involvement in the April 23 Pahalgam attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, which killed 26 people, calling it a "homegrown resistance" movement in what he described as "occupied territory".

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Asif dismissed India's claims as baseless and accused New Delhi of orchestrating a "false flag operation" to divert attention from its human rights violations in Kashmir, drawing parallels to the 2019 Pulwama attack, which he claimed was later exposed as a "hoax" by Indian media.

He emphasised that Pakistan maintains no ties with Kashmiri militant groups and attributed the violence to decades of unresolved grievances stemming from India's refusal to implement UN resolutions on Kashmir.

Asif warned that any Indian cross-border military retaliation would be met with a "tit-for-tat kinetic response," referencing Pakistan's downing of an Indian jet in 2019. Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar challenged India to provide evidence for its accusations, stating that linking Pakistan to the attack without proof was part of a "blame game".

In retaliation to India's suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty and border closures, Pakistan announced reciprocal measures, including halting a canal irrigation project and downgrading diplomatic ties.

The attack, claimed by a group called The Resistance Front (TRF), which India alleges is a front for Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, has intensified nuclear-tinged tensions. Asif described Kashmir as Pakistan's "jugular vein" and reiterated Islamabad's diplomatic support for Kashmiri self-determination, while India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to hunt down the perpetrators.

The incident has reignited historical grievances, with Pakistan accusing India of demographic engineering in Kashmir and India framing the attack as Pakistan-backed terrorism. Both nations have mobilized their national security apparatuses, with Pakistan's NSC convening to address the crisis and India launching a massive manhunt for the attackers.

Agencies