Countering India's claims, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday alleged that the terror attack in Pulwama where 40 CRPF troopers lost their lives was an "indigenous incident". He added that Pakistan was dragged into the picture because the terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, which claimed responsibility for the attack, is based in his country.
"It was a Kashmiri boy radicalised by the brutality of the security forces who blew himself up. But because this group claimed responsibility, which was in India as well -- Jaish-e-Mohammed is operating in India -- Pakistan suddenly came in the limelight,” Khan said.
Khan, who is on a three-day visit to America, was addressing the Washington-based think-tank US Institute of Peace.
He also revealed that his country had 40 different militant groups operating within its borders. "We were fighting the US war on terror. Pakistan has nothing to do with 9/11. Al-Qaeda was in Afghanistan. There were no militant Taliban in Pakistan. But we joined the US war. Unfortunately, when things went wrong, where I blame my government, we did not tell the US exactly the truth on the ground," Khan told lawmakers at the Capitol Hill.
The Pulwama attack led to a standoff between the two countries earlier this year, with India launching air strikes on Balakot in Pakistan followed by a dogfight in the skies over the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir.
(With PTI inputs)