• Dar tells Senate intel suggests India contemplating ‘some form of escalation’
• PPP lawmaker endorses call for Imran’s participation in proposed multi-party moot

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday said Pakistan will not strike India but reserves the right to retaliate, as he concluded his speech in the Senate on the recent tensions with India and diplomatic overtures deployed by Islamabad to contest New Delhi’s allegations in light of the Pahalgam attack.

The Senate session also witnessed a call by PPP lawmaker Syed Masroor Ahsan, who endorsed the idea floated by the PTI seeking the involvement of PTI chief Imran Khan in the multi-party conference to send a “message of unity” in the country.

The idea initially floated by PTI’s Ali Zafar was recalled by PTI’s Aon Abbas in his speech on Tuesday, in which he said PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif, PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari, and PTI founder Imran Khan should participate in the moot to send a strong message.

PPP’s Masroor Ahsan, while endorsing the idea, observed that the government should show flexibility and listen to the opposition. “Both sides need to set aside egos,” he remarked. Earlier, at least three senators, Allama Nasir Abbas, Gurdeep Singh and Dost Muhammad, called for the release of Imran Khan from the Adiala jail.

However, PML-N Senator Nasir Butt said Imran Khan would have to face the law and prove his innocence to secure his freedom.

Senator Saifullah Abro of the PTI chided former prime minister Nawaz Sharif for his purported silence over the Pahalgam attack and demanded that the political leadership make strong statements over the issue.

Stern response

Meanwhile, FM Ishaq Dar said Pakis­tan would pay back India in the same coin, but it would not initiate an attack.

Sharing details of Pakistan’s diplomatic overtures following the escalation in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack, he said foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, China, the United Kingdom, Turkiye, Azerbaijan, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Hungary have been taken on board about Pakistan’s concerns.

He said he also spoke directly to the prime minister of Qatar. Mr Dar praised China and Turkiye for expressing clear support for Pakistan in the wake of the crisis.

“I walked them through what happened — India’s psyche, its history and our concerns about what intentions it may have in light of that history,” he told the House. Mr Dar said intelligence reports suggest that India was contemplating some form of escalation.

Referring to the 2019 Pulwama attack that killed 40 Indian paramilitary personnel and was blamed on a Pakistan-based militant group, the deputy prime minister noted that New Delhi had used the incident as a pretext to revoke Article 370 of its constitution, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

The region was subsequently absorbed into India’s union territory framework, a move Pakistan has repeatedly condemned. Ishaq Dar also said that India had been attempting to alter the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, which determined the water-sharing mechanism between both countries, for the past two years, citing changing circumstances.

“I have my doubts, much like other people, that this drama was staged to suspend this treaty,” he said while referring to the Pahalgam attack. He said there was no evidence that it was a false-flag operation. “What we do say with full confidence is that Pakistan has nothing to do with this [attack].”

According to Mr Dar, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif offered an independent investigation into the Pahalgam attack fully knowing that Pakistan had nothing to do with it. He also made it clear that any meddling with Pakistani waters by India will not be tolerated at any cost and will be taken as an act of war.

Meanwhile, the House unanimously passed “The Biological and Toxins Weapons Convention (Implementation) Bill, 2025” and “The National Commission for Minorities’ Rights Bill 2025 brought before it as a supplementary agenda.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2025