A YEAR after at least 26 people were killed in a terrorist attack in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam area, ties between Pakistan and India remain at rock bottom. Even after a year, New Delhi has been unable to come up with “solid evidence or proof” of its claims that Pakistan was involved in the atrocity, as indicated by Information Minister Ataullah Tarar on Wednesday, the first anniversary of the attack. Weeks after the attack, on May 6 last year, India had launched its so-called Operation Sindoor, which entailed unprovoked aggression against Pakistan. This country responded in a befitting manner. Both these events have poisoned ties; the trust deficit remains considerable, while bellicose rhetoric from India demonstrates that New Delhi is not ready to talk peace with Pakistan.

As Mr Tarar noted, Pakistan had offered a neutral probe into the attack, which India rejected. He went on to term the Pahalgam incident a “false flag operation”, while criticising the “ugly face” of Indian media for their jingoistic coverage of the incident, as well as during the brief India-Pakistan war. Indeed, within the international community, while most, including Pakistan, expressed sympathy with the victims, very few bought the Indian narrative that the terrorists had a connection with this country. In fact, many within India, including opposition parties, poked holes in the BJP-led government’s arguments. For Indian hawks, Pakistan is an easy scapegoat to blame for their own internal weaknesses. Yet, without any compelling evidence, few are willing to believe the tale that Pakistan was behind the Pahalgam attack. The role played by a large section of the Indian media is also regrettable; instead of uncovering the facts and offering a constructive analysis, the channels went into hyperdrive, beating the drums of war and baying for Pakistani blood. Their performance during the brief conflict was just as regrettable.

Many Indian officials, including senior cabinet members, say Operation Sindoor is only ‘paused’, and have used threatening language against Pakistan. Though such rhetoric is unacceptable at all times, at a moment when the region faces the renewed spectre of war in the Middle East, it is particularly irresponsible. While Pakistan has shown that it can ably defend its soil, it has time and again stressed the need for dialogue. Yet New Delhi does not seem interested in bringing the temperature down. The fact is that engagement remains the only viable solution to all problems in the subcontinent. Be it issues of security and water-sharing or the Kashmir dispute, both sides must resolve their differences at the table. The grim alternative is more conflict in a world already reeling from war and bloodshed. This is a reality the hard-liners in New Delhi would do well to reflect on.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2026