Pakistan shares with India its preliminary findings on Pulwama dossier

Pakistan foreign ministry called Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria and shared its findings with him.

Security personnel carry out the rescue and relief works at the site of suicide bomb attack at Lathepora Awantipora in Pulwama district of south Kashmir | PTI

New Delhi: Pakistan has said it has shared preliminary findings with India on the dossier that New Delhi had shared with it on the 14 February Pulwama terror attack.

Ajay Bisaria, the Indian High Commissioner to Islamabad, was called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the foreign secretary, and the findings on the Pulwama incident were shared with him, stated an official Pakistan government note.

“Earlier, the Prime Minister of Pakistan had offered cooperation in investigation if credible evidence was provided by India. In response to this offer, a paper was handed over to Pakistan on 27 February 2019,” the foreign ministry note stated.

“Pakistan has acted with a high sense of responsibility and extended full cooperation. We do so in the interest of regional peace and security. We have sought further information/evidence from India to take the process forward.”

The Pulwama attack

India had handed over the dossier even as tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours rose in the aftermath of the suicide bomb attack on CRPF personnel in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, which killed 40 personnel.

Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, led by Masood Azhar, claimed responsibility for the attack, and India responded with air strikes on its camps in Balakot, Pakistan, on 26 February.

The next day, Pakistan sent its air force, including F-16 fighters, to drop bombs on Indian military installations. In the ensuing dogfight, the Indian Air Force shot down an F-16 while also losing a MiG-21 Bison aircraft. The pilot of the aircraft, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, landed in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, and was taken captive by the Pakistani military. He was released after 60 hours in captivity.

Since then, the tension between the neighbours has dissipated only slightly. After a whole month, Pakistan finally reopened its airspace to commercial flights Tuesday.

In the meantime, India and other countries’ efforts to get Masood Azhar enlisted as a global terrorist by the UN 1267 Committee were blocked for the fourth time by China.