Prime Minister Imran Khan Tuesday said that Pakistan is ready to investigate if India shares actionable evidence regarding last week's suicide bombing in occupied Kashmir's Pulwama area in which over 40 Indian paramilitary soldiers were killed.
In a televised address to the nation, the Prime Minister warned India of retaliation in case of any misadventure. "If Indians believe that they can launch an attack on Pakistan, they should understand that Pakistan will not think but retaliate immediately as there will be no other option."
The Prime Minister said that it is easy to start a war but very difficult to end it, adding that no law in the world allows India to be the judge, jury and executioner.
"India should think as to why Kashmiri youth are willing to sacrifice their lives," he said, adding that Pakistan is ready to initiate dialogue with India on all issues including terrorism.
Khan said that Pakistan has fought the war on terror for 15 years, with 70,000 Pakistanis losing their lives and over $100 billion financial loss. "You (India) have accused Pakistan without any evidence," he said.
"India should realise that this is new Pakistan and this is not in our interest if somebody uses our soil to launch an attack outside or inside the country," Khan said, "If somebody is using Pakistan's territory (to launch an attack on the other countries), he is doing enmity with Pakistan."
Giving a reason for a delayed response to India's accusations, the Prime Minister said that Pakistan was preparing for an important visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and did not want to divert the attention.
"We were planning for it (the crown prince's visit) and only a fool will do this to sabotage the important investment conference," he said, "Pakistan is moving toward stability, the terrorism is going down ... and above all what Pakistan would get out of it," he said.
The Prime Minister urged India to do introspection and stop blaming Pakistan for incidents in Kashmir. "You wish to remain stuck in the past, and each time something happens in Kashmir, you want to hold Pakistan responsible, instead of trying to resolve the Kashmir issue," he further said.
He said that it is in Pakistan's interest that "neither is our soil used for carrying out terrorist attacks in other countries, nor do we want outsiders to come and carry out terror attacks here. We desire stability."
"If someone is using Pakistan's soil, he is doing enmity with us. It is against our interests," he added.
AFP adds: With anger building in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces increased pressure to act as his Hindu nationalist government is expected to call a national election within weeks.
Indian forces have staged operations since Thursday's attack while anti-Pakistan and anti-Kashmir sentiment has spread across the country, fuelled by social media including widely shared false news reports.
On Tuesday the Indian army said three JeM militants were killed in a gun battle a day earlier. Two of them were Pakistanis, including the group's "chief operations commander in Kashmir", Lieutenant General Kanwal Jeet Singh Dhillon told a press conference in Srinagar.
The Indian government has already withdrawn trade privileges for Pakistan, ended police protection for four Kashmiri separatist leaders, and halted some cross-border services.
Earlier Tuesday, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi pleaded with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to intervene in the escalating row.
"The United Nations must step in to defuse tensions," wrote Qureshi in a message shared with journalists.
On Monday Saudi Arabia vowed to "de-escalate" the situation during a high-profile state visit by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Islamabad. He is also due in India this week.
Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan warned that any action by Delhi against Islamabad could disrupt peace talks with the Taliban. Pakistan is "playing a very important role" in the months-long push led by the US for talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government, said Zahid Nasrullah. A fresh round of negotiations is set to begin next week.
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