Row over Pahalgam terror attack can lead to ‘all-out war’ between New Delhi and Islamabad, says Pak Minister

Pakistan Defense Minister Khwaja Asif said the row over the Pahalgam terror attack can lead to an ‘all-out war’ between New Delhi and Islamabad. He said the world should be “worried” about the prospect of a full-scale conflict involving the two nations.Asif told Sky News, “A row over a mass shooting in Kashmir could lead to an all-out war between his country and India. The world should be worried about the prospect of a full-scale conflict involving the two nations, which both have nuclear weapons.”
The remarks amid the rising diplomatic tension between the two countries following the Pahalgam terror attack. A group of terrorists killed 26 people, mostly tourists, in the afternoon of April 22 in Pahalgam town of Jammu and Kashmir. The Resistance Front (TRF), a shadow group of the banned Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror group, claimed responsibility for the attack. They blamed them (tourists) for supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after which they made some statements to deny that Kashmiri militants kill innocent people, women and children, an eyewitness said.
Catch all the latest updates hereThe deceased included two foreigners – from the UAE and Nepal – and two locals, officials said. Among the dead were tourists from several states, including Karnataka, Maharashtra, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

Asif hoped the dispute could be resolved via negotiations. “The reaction which came from Delhi is not very surprising for us, we could make out that this whole this is staged to create crisis in the region. This sort of pattern which is going on in India. When former President Clinton was there . the terror attack on Sikhs claimed at least 40 lives and it was blamed on Pakistan. This time again the people who are being accused are not known and never heard of that organisation. Lashkar–e–Taiba is the name of past and it does not exist,” he said.

On April 23, India downgraded diplomatic ties with Pakistan and announced a raft of measures including expulsion of Pakistani military attaches, suspension of the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 and immediate shutting down of the Attari land-transit post in view of the cross-border links to the Pahalgam carnage.

India has also announced revoking all visas issued to Pakistani nationals from April 27 and advised Indian nationals residing in Pakistan to return home at the earliest. It said medical visas issued to Pakistani nationals will be valid only till April 29. The MEA said all Pakistani nationals currently in India must leave the country before the expiry of visas.

In retaliation, Pakistan has put the Simla Agreement and other bilateral accords with India on hold, suspended all trade, closed its airspace for Indian airlines and said any attempt to divert the water meant for it under the Indus Water Treaty will be considered an Act of War.