Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday said his government is open to a ‘neutral, transparent and credible investigation’ into the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam.
The deadly assault — one of the worst since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 — has escalated tensions between India and Pakistan, with New Delhi accusing Islamabad of sheltering the handlers and backers of the group behind the massacre.
Addressing cadets at a graduation ceremony at the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sharif described the allegations as part of a “perpetual blame game” that needed to end.
“The recent tragedy in Pahalgam is yet another example of this perpetual blame game, which must come to a grinding halt,” Sharif said. “Continuing with its role as a responsible country, Pakistan is open to participating in any neutral, transparent and credible investigation.”
His comments come amid growing international scrutiny and a day after Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told The New York Times that Islamabad was “ready to cooperate” with any international probe into the incident.
The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy outfit of the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, has claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack. Indian intelligence sources have identified Adil Ahmed Thoker as a key suspect, alleging he crossed over to Pakistan, received weapons training, and returned years later to execute the strike along with several Pakistani militants.
According to Indian officials, Thoker’s journey — from recruitment to infiltration — is part of a broader pattern of cross-border terrorism facilitated by groups operating from Pakistani soil with tacit state support.
In response to the attack, India has launched high-level diplomatic protests and boosted security measures in the Kashmir Valley, calling for stronger international action against Pakistan-based terror networks.
Sharif reiterated his government’s stance against terrorism, saying, “Pakistan has always condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.”
Despite repeated denials, Islamabad has long faced allegations from India and other countries for providing safe havens to terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, both designated as terrorist organizations by the United Nations.
While Sharif’s offer of a joint investigation could be seen as a diplomatic olive branch, analysts remain skeptical about its implementation without concrete steps from Pakistan to dismantle terrorist infrastructure within its borders.
