ARKADAG /Turkmenistan/, April 28. /TASS/. Pakistan has proposed an impartial investigation into the terrorist attack in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan's Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal Chaudhary told TASS.
"Pakistan has already made a proposal for an impartial investigation into the incident that took place in India," he said on the sidelines of the first ministerial forum on sustainable development of the Economic Cooperation Organization (a regional organization that includes Pakistan and a number of other South and Central Asian countries), which is being held in the city of Arkadag.
The minister noted that Pakistan and India have nuclear weapons and urge to avoid escalation of tensions in South Asia. "We must not allow the escalation in South Asia. Instead, we [Pakistan and India] should work together, fight against terrorism and address the issues of economic cooperation in the region," he added.
On April 22, armed men carried out a terrorist attack in the popular tourist town of Pahalgam located on the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and killed 25 Indians and one Nepalese, leaving many more injured. The attackers managed to escape.
The Indian intelligence services have discovered evidence of the involvement of the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence in the attack of terrorists from the Lashkar-e-Taiba group (outlawed in Russia), The Hindustan Times newspaper reported, citing sources.
After the attack, India almost halved the staff of its embassy in Islamabad, declared the military advisors of the Pakistani diplomatic mission in India personae non gratae, and closed the key Attari checkpoint on the border with Pakistan. Indian authorities also suspended an agreement with Islamabad on the allocation of water resources and the issuance of visas to Pakistani citizens.