'Stop accusing Pakistan': Pak FM on Pulwama attack

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday (local time) said that India should stop "accusing" Pakistan with "baseless allegations" over its involvement in the Pulwama terror attack that claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel.

While speaking to a German news outlet in Munich, Qureshi said that the Pakistan government wanted better and stable relations with all the neighbouring countries, including India.

"Prime Minister Imran Khan's statement is on record (in this regard). India should desist from levelling allegations against Pakistan," he was quoted by ARY News as saying.

Qureshi's comments came two days after as 40 security personnel were killed after a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle on their convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district.

The convoy comprised of 78 buses in which around 2,500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar - the slain personnel were in a bus which had 42 CRPF men on board. It was the deadliest attack on security forces in Kashmir.

Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a Pakistan-based terrorist group, claimed responsibility for the attack which left the bus extensively damaged in the blast and ensuing gunfire on the vehicle.

After the dastardly act, India demanded that the UN ban JeM and its chief Masood Azhar who roams freely in Pakistan.

In a statement, India's External Affairs Ministry said that all UN member countries should support a proposal for proscribing Azhar as an international terrorist.

Reflecting the outrage in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that "the blood of Indians is boiling" and issued a clear warning to Pakistan, declaring that the "guardians" of the perpetrators of the Pulwama terror attack will be "definitely punished".

Asserting that a "befitting reply" will be given, he said, "Our neighbouring country forgets that this (India) is a country with new intent and new policy."

He said the terror organisations and their "guardians" have committed a "grave mistake" by carrying out the attack and that the Indian armed forces have been given a go-ahead to hit back at the "time", "place" and "form" of their choosing.

He said Pakistan is making a "big mistake" by thinking that it can destabilise India "through its tactics and conspiracies."

Prime Minister Modi also thanked the countries which have supported India and condemned this incident in the strongest of terms.