Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on Wednesday that the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has provided no evidence of Pakistan's involvement in Pahalgam attack.
Talking to Indian journalist Karan Thapar, the former foreign minister said, "Our [Pakistan] hands were clean that is why we offered a transparent probe into the Pahalgam attack. Why don't the names of the terrorists surface if they were Pakistanis?"
"I don't want to see the youth of both the nations [Pakistan and India] remaining stuck in the past. The roots of the terrorism in the subcontinent trace back to Afghanistan's past," said Bhutto-Zardari.
He said, "Pakistan has not allowed any one of the groups to attack India. Pakistan is battling the world’s biggest war against terrorism. About 92,000 Pakistanis embraced martyrdom in the war against terrorism."
Bhutto-Zardari added, "Over 1,000 Pakistanis lost their lives only in a previous year. We [Pakistan] ourselves have been affected by terrorism; that is why we can feel the pain of the Pahalgam attack."
Bhutto-Zardari said, “The international community has acknowledged the measures taken by Pakistan in ending the menace of terrorism.”
Recalling the 2007 Samjhauta Express incident, Bhutto-Zardari said, "I would like you to revisit what happened in 2007 and the 40 Pakistanis killed on Indian soil."
"India not only failed to bring the culprits of the incident to justice. But the confessing statements made by the accused had also been tampered with," he said.
Subsequently, taking to X (formerly Twitter), Bhutto-Zardari said: "My interview with Karan Thapar should be out later today. We are not afraid of putting our case to the Indian public via Indian media. I chose to give an interview to Indian media, not because I expected a fair platform, but because I believe in the people of India, especially the youth."
"The case for peace in our region is not just a Pakistani cause, it is a shared mission for both our peoples. I believe the new generation of Indians and Pakistanis can chart a new destiny. We will be the generation that breaks the shackles of history, that defies the war-mongers, the cynics, and the peddlers of hate," he said.
The former foreign minister said, "Together, we will face the real challenges of our time together, from terrorism to climate change to inequality. This is my promise to the young people of both India and Pakistan: our future will be defined not by the conflicts of the past, but by a new destiny defined by peaceful co-existence, cooperation and prosperity."
