Pakistan will respond with full force if provoked: DG ISPR

ISLAMABAD: Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has exposed India’s false narrative about the recent Pahalgam attack, saying that terrorism has no religion and that the attack was used by India for political purposes.

Addressing a joint press conference along with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Foreign Office Spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan, the DG ISPR said that India is rushing to blame Pakistan for the Pahalgam attack without any investigation, a move that points to a pre-planned false flag operation.

“The Pahalgam incident took place in a remote mountainous area 230 km from the Line of Control, how was it possible to reach the police station, register an FIR, and return to the scene in less than ten minutes?” he questioned, calling the fast-paced Indian narrative “highly suspicious”.

Gen Chaudhry added that the FIR alleged that the attackers were directed from across the border and opened indiscriminate fire on Muslims, which is contrary to the ground realities. He said that terrorists have no religion.

Highlighting digital evidence, he revealed that a certain Indian social media account had posted hints of an impending attack, even mentioning the name “Fitna Al-Khawaj”, hours before the Pahalgam incident. The same account had posted before other attacks, including the Jaffer Express blast, which raised serious questions about prior knowledge and intent.

The DG ISPR said that India used the Pahalgam incident to advance multiple agendas – undermining Pakistan’s counter-terrorism success, derailing economic recovery, and even threatening the Indus Waters Treaty. He said, “Blame Pakistan, take credit, win elections – this is the political cycle that India is on.”

Condemning the Modi government’s communalisation of the incident, General Chaudhry said that Indian Muslims faced a strong backlash after the attack, even though the first person to die in the attack was a Muslim, who was trying to save others.

He further said that hundreds of Pakistani prisoners were being killed in encounters in Indian jails. “After the Pahalgam incident, two Kashmiri youths – Farooq and Mohammad Dini – were killed in a fake encounter in Uri. Photos of polished shoes with a mounted weapon exposed the fabrication,” he revealed.

On terrorism inside Pakistan, General Chaudhry revealed that since January 2024, there have been 3,700 incidents of terrorism, resulting in 1,314 martyrs and 2,582 injured. The armed forces have killed over 16,000 terrorists in 192 operations. He blamed India for supporting such activities, adding that 50 houses have been bulldozed and 2,000 people have been abducted in Indian-occupied Kashmir.

“India calls Kashmir an internal matter and presents terrorism as a foreign problem. The truth is the opposite,” he said, stressing that Pakistan was fully prepared to defend itself on every front – land, air or sea. “If any move is made, we will respond with full force, we are ready for all threats simultaneously.”