Pakistan has mounted a diplomatic defence of Hafiz Saeed, rejecting India’s investigation into the Pahalgam terror attack and dismissing the National Investigation Agency’s supplementary chargesheet against the Lashkar-e-Taiba founder, News18 reported.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad has publicly rejected the findings, describing them as baseless and politically motivated.

The development follows reports that the NIA was preparing to chargesheet Hafiz Saeed and seek his declaration as a proclaimed offender in connection with the April 22 Pahalgam massacre. Shortly afterwards, the agency secured a non-bailable warrant against him, intensifying India’s legal pursuit despite his continued presence in Pakistan.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi used the weekly media briefing to reject the chargesheet and defend those named in the investigation. He described the NIA’s move as an afterthought and alleged that India was using sham legal processes to target Kashmiri political leadership. He further claimed that reopening cases linked to events nearly three decades old demonstrated India’s use of investigative institutions for political ends.

Andrabi also objected to the inclusion of deceased Hurriyat leaders in the chargesheet, calling it evidence of a politically motivated exercise. Pakistan reiterated its position that no legal action by India could alter what it termed the internationally recognised disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir.

Beyond rejecting the chargesheet, Pakistan categorically denied India’s findings linking Pakistan-based terror infrastructure to the Pahalgam massacre. Andrabi insisted that India had failed to produce credible evidence and repeated Islamabad’s demand for an independent and transparent investigation. He accused New Delhi of exploiting the issue for domestic political purposes.

Intelligence sources in India argue that Pakistan’s latest diplomatic intervention is aimed at preserving deniability around The Resistance Front, which investigators say functions as a proxy of Lashkar-e-Taiba. They note that the international narrative has shifted, with TRF now widely recognised as a legal alias of LeT, undermining Pakistan’s claim of independence for the group.

According to the investigation, the NIA has gathered multiple layers of evidence linking the attack to Pakistan-based handlers.

This includes GoPro footage recorded by the terrorists during the assault, encrypted WhatsApp and social media communications, and GPS coordinates of the Baisaran meadow allegedly transmitted directly from LeT handler Sajid Jatt in Pakistan.

Investigators have also mapped cross-border drone drops allegedly used to deliver M4 carbines and AK-47 rifles later employed in the attack. Officials highlight that while Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry has dismissed the investigation, its public statements fail to address the digital, financial and physical evidence cited by Indian investigators. Instead, they rely on political arguments to reject the findings.

The latest exchange marks a significant escalation, with Pakistan’s government now publicly defending a UN-sanctioned terrorist while rejecting India’s investigation into one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir in recent years. It underscores the widening diplomatic divide over accountability for cross-border terrorism and the role of Pakistan-based networks.

The NIA’s supplementary chargesheet names Hafiz Saeed as an accused, alleging he masterminded the cross-border conspiracy. The agency maintains that its evidence demonstrates Pakistan’s active sponsorship of terrorism on Indian soil, a claim Islamabad continues to deny.

Agencies