Pak duplicity

PUSHED to the wall, Pakistan has offered to cooperate in any “neutral, transparent and credible” investigation into the Pahalgam killings. This conditional offer suggests that Islamabad will have the liberty to pick holes in the probe and reject the findings in case some incriminating facts come to light. There is nothing new about the Pakistani civil-military establishment being in denial mode about its alleged role in a terror attack on Indian soil. What’s new is Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s remark that he wants this “perpetual blame game” to end. However, he is clearly struggling to convince the international community of his country’s “innocence” in the present case.

The outcome of Pakistan’s purported cooperation in previous cases does not inspire confidence. After the 2016 attack on the Pathankot airbase by Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists, a probe team including ISI members and others had travelled to India and documented evidence along with the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The attack had embarrassed then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as it had happened just a week after PM Narendra Modi made a surprise stopover in Lahore to wish “happy birthday” to his counterpart. However, the joint probe did not yield tangible results, even as the Nawaz-led government confined itself to the perfunctory action of arresting a few Jaish members. Moreover, the NIA team’s reciprocal visit didn’t materialise due to Pakistan’s dilly-dallying and reluctance to share evidence with India. Following the 2016 Uri attack, India sent a judicial request with details of DNA samples of terrorists, but Islamabad chose to look the other way. The probe into the 2019 Pulwama bombing also saw Pakistan at its evasive best.

The swiftness with which the Shehbaz government has disowned Tahawwur Rana, a 26/11 accused who is in Indian custody after his extradition from the US, shows that a leopard can never change its spots. The onus is on the NIA to expedite its probe and come up with irrefutable proof of Pakistan’s complicity in the Pahalgam massacre.

Editorials