In interview with an Indian web site, the previous official claims he was requested by Modi to ‘keep quiet’ over alleged safety lapses.

Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan says latest statements made by Satya Pal Malik, former governor of Indian-administered Kashmir, “vindicate its stance” on the 2019 Pulwama attack.

In February that yr, 40 Indian paramilitary troopers have been killed in a suicide assault within the Pulwama district of the disputed Himalayan area additionally claimed by Pakistan since 1947.

New Delhi had accused Islamabad of orchestrating the assault which introduced the 2 nuclear powers to the brink of another war. But the Pakistani authorities denied its involvement within the assault.

Malik, who was the governor of Indian-administered Kashmir on the time of the assault, instructed India’s The Wire information web site in an interview that he “realised that all the onus of the attack will be put on Pakistan” to reap electoral advantages.

“Narendra Modi is a very ill-informed person.”

Satyapal Malik opens as much as Karan Thapar on what actually occurred in Pulwama – together with the PM’s directions to not discuss lapses – on this explosive interview.

Full video right here: https://t.co/47ENX7WzM2 pic.twitter.com/xVrt2P2wom

— The Wire (@thewire_in) April 14, 2023

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi had repeatedly cited the Pulwama assault to mobilise voters within the 2019 common elections, during which he returned to energy with a bigger majority in parliament.

In his interview, Malik, the previous governor, blamed Pakistan for the assault however added that it occurred because of the “incompetence” and “carelessness” of Modi’s authorities.

Malik claimed that Modi instructed him to “stay quiet” in regards to the safety lapses he allegedly raised with the federal government. He added that India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval had additionally instructed him to stay silent over the alleged lapses.

“His [Malik’s] disclosures demonstrate how the Indian leadership has habitually used the bogey of terrorism from Pakistan to advance its sham victimhood narrative and the Hindutva agenda, clearly for domestic political gains,” an announcement from Pakistan’s overseas ministry mentioned on Sunday.

“Hindutva” refers back to the Hindu supremacist agenda pursued by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with a view to convert a constitutionally secular India into an ethnic Hindu state, the place its 200 million Muslim minority shall be diminished to second-class standing.

Pakistan’s overseas workplace mentioned India should reply the questions raised by Malik. “It is time India be held accountable for the actions that imperilled regional peace in the aftermath of Pulwama attack,” it mentioned.

“We hope that the international community would take cognisance of the latest revelations and see through India’s propaganda campaign against Pakistan driven by selfish political considerations and based on lies and deceit.”

Abdul Basit, a former Pakistani envoy to India, instructed Al Jazeera that Malik’s claims uncovered the Modi authorities.

“This interview clearly exposes what the Indian government under Narendra Modi is up to and what they are doing, with their anti-Pakistan, anti-Kashmir narrative as well as allegations about so-called cross-border terrorism and maligning Kashmir’s struggle for freedom,” he instructed Al Jazeera.

Basit, who was Pakistan’s ambassador to India between 2014 and 2017, mentioned the Modi authorities is specializing in home politics with their “anti-Muslim, anti-Pakistani and anti-Kashmir rhetoric” to unite the “extremist Hindu voters”.

However, he added that Pakistan must do extra to struggle “Indian propaganda”.

“In order to expose Indian designs against Pakistan and undermining the struggle of Kashmiris, we cannot rely on just one statement. It is required on part of Pakistan to make sustained effort. Diplomacy is not about one event, but it is a process, and we need to have well-planned, well-calibrated efforts to counter them,” he instructed Al Jazeera.

But India’s overseas coverage skilled Radha Kumar mentioned she believes Pakistan was behind the Pulwama assault.

“It was clear from intelligence reports that the attack was planned and supported by groups in Pakistan, so if the Modi administration wanted a reason, it had one. The real intent in what Malik claims to have been told was to cover up the shockingly irresponsible decision of then-Home Minister Rajnath Singh and the passivity of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval,” she instructed Al Jazeera.

Kumar, who authored Paradise at War: A Political History of Kashmir, says Malik’s feedback is not going to harm the Indian prime minister.

“Modi’s supporters don’t care if Pakistan is targeted on a pretext. What will hurt is if the opposition makes a point of how little the Modi administration cared for the lives of our soldiers, and how lightly they take national security.”