'Nothing to do with it': Pakistan's first reaction to Pahalgam terror attack, calls Kashmir unrest home-grown rebellion (WATCH)

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif distanced Islamabad of any involvement, branding the bloodshed as an internal uprising rooted within India.

A day after terror attack on unsuspecting tourists in Pahalgam jolted Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif distanced Islamabad of any involvement, branding the bloodshed as an internal uprising rooted within India.

Speaking to Pakistan’s Live 92 news channel, Asif portrayed the massacre that claimed 28 lives as a symptom of a broader resistance movement within India, and not the result of foreign-sponsored terrorism.

“Pakistan has no connection with this,” Asif asserted. “There are revolutions in so-called Indian states, from Nagaland to Kashmir, in Chhattisgarh, Manipur, and the south. These are not acts of foreign interference but local uprisings.”

His remarks come at a moment when Prime Minister Narendra Modi abruptly ended a high-level visit to Saudi Arabia and returned to Delhi to deal with the aftermath of the bloodbath. While New Delhi has so far withheld direct accusations, Asif’s counter-narrative seemed designed to deflect scrutiny and challenge India’s longstanding stance on cross-border militancy.

Breaking sharply from India’s narrative that terrorism in Kashmir is backed by Pakistan-based groups, Asif maintained that the unrest is rooted in systemic oppression and denied any external orchestration. “These are people asking for their rights. Hindutva forces are repressing minorities, Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, and people are reacting.”

As grief and fury ripple across the nation in response to the attack on civilians, Asif pivoted to allegations against India, accusing it of inciting turmoil in Pakistan. “India is sponsoring unrest in Balochistan. We’ve presented evidence multiple times, not once, but repeatedly, of India’s hand behind instability in Pakistan,” he charged.

Though he reiterated Pakistan’s official opposition to terrorism, Asif appeared to justify the violence as a reaction to state brutality. “If the army or police are committing atrocities against people denied fundamental rights, blaming Pakistan becomes a convenient excuse.”

The Indian government has yet to respond to these inflammatory claims, but with tensions already running high in the wake of the Pahalgam carnage, Asif’s rhetoric is likely to further strain the already volatile ties between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.