‘No matter what India does, this problem is not going to go away': Former Pakistan envoy on Kashmir issue

First Post

25-04-2025

For long Pakistan has taken cover of the Kashmir issue to mask its use of terrorism as state policy. After the Pahalgam terror attack, Firstpost spoke to former Pakistan envoy Abdul Basit. Here's what he says read more
An Indian paramilitary vehicle escorts tourists after an attack in Pahalgam, about 90kms (55 miles) from Srinagar on April 23, 2025. Source: AFP
As India navigates through the devastating Pahalgam attack that led to the death of 26 people, Pakistan's former envoy to India defended his country's policies in what India sees as decades-long streak of fomenting trouble in Jammu and Kashmir through terrorism. In an exclusive conversation with Firstpost, Pakistan's former High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit said the Kashmir issue is at the core of tensions between India and Pakistan and 'whatever India does, this problem is not going to go away'.
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'In my view, and I have been saying this all along, that the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is a core problem between Pakistan and India,' Basit told Firstpost on Thursday. He urged both sides to discuss ways to settle the dispute.
'No matter what India does, this problem is not going to go away. It will continue to be there between Pakistan and India. It is time to think about how to settle this issue rather than ramping up to unnecessary rhetoric, creating more problems between our two countries,' he said.
It's ironical that the Kashmir problem between India and Pakistan began with the latter invading Jammu and Kashmir barely two months after Independence in 1947. As a princely state Jammu and Kashmir signed the Instrument of Accession with India as per the provisions of the Indian Independence Act of 1947 that also paved the way for the creation of Pakistan through the partition of India. Jammu and Kashmir's accession to India was held legally valid by the United Nations.
Basit assertion of the Kashmir issue remaining a perpetual problem appears to be an oversight of the historical fact, whether deliberate or a compulsion of a former diplomat.
Pakistan's former High Comissioner to India Abdul Basit. File Image
Basit emphasised that once this issue is settled, Pakistan will live as a normal neighbour to India. The remarks from the former Pakistani envoy came in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack that saw India announcing five big measures against Pakistan.
In response, Pakistan conducted an emergency meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) and announced retaliatory measures. In the press release, which came shortly after Basit's interview with Firstpost, Pakistan announced that it is suspending all bilateral agreements with India, including the Simla Agreement, until 'New Delhi changes its conduct'.
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'Once the dispute is settled, Pakistan will live as normal neighbours': Basit
Basit said that the Kashmir dispute needs to be settled before anything else. 'The primary question is whether or not the two countries are willing to move in the direction of settling the Kashmir dispute. All other issues are peripheral in my view. Once this dispute is settled, you will see Pakistan living as normal neighbours and putting their relations on a positive trajectory,' he averred.
During the interview, Basit attempted to put forward Pakistan's case in the ongoing diplomatic row. However, he glossed over some facts. When asked how some of the terrorists involved in the deadly attack were Pakistani nationals, Basit said, 'India started blaming Pakistan immediately after the attack or a false flag, I doubt there was any investigation or probe.'
When Firstpost mentioned the fact that J&K Police released the identity of three terrorists involved in the attack, out of which two were Pakistanis, Basit dodged the question, saying, 'We do not know. Not a shred of evidence has been shared with anyone.'
The Jammu and Kashmir Police has released the sketches of foreigner terrorists Hashim Musa alias Sulaiman and Ali Bhai alias Talha Bhai, and local terrorist ⁠Adil Hussain Thokar, believed to be involved in the Pahalgam attack. (Photo: J&K Police)
Earlier today, the J&K police shared the names of two Pakistani and one local terrorist involved in the killing. They were: Hashim Musa alias Sulaiman, Ali Bhai alias Talha Bhai, and ⁠Adil Hussain Thokar (Local). The police have put a 20 lakh bounty on each of the terrorists.
The Kashmir issue has been at the epicentre of India-Pakistan tensions after Pakistan infiltrated the then-princely state of Jammu and Kashmir soon after the partition, leading to an all-out India-Pakistan war of 1947-48.
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Pakistan has for long denied its role in terrorism in India, despite its top leaders having openly admitted to Islamabad's so-called policy of 'bleeding India through a thousand cuts'. Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said in TV interviews that the people who were seen as terrorists by the world were heroes for the establishment.
The timing of it all
The Pahalgam attack took place while US Vice President The incident drew all the attention from the visit. Interestingly, this is not the first time Pakistan has been accused of orchestrating such attacks during a monumental visit.
There have been at least two instances in which terrorists carried out nearly identical attacks that also coincided with the visits of top US officials, one of them included the American president's visit to the country.
US Vice President JD Vance receives the ceremonial guard of honour upon his arrival in New Delhi, India, on April 21, 2025. (Photo: X/Ministry of External Affairs)
A similar attack took place in Chittisinghpora in J&K back in 2000 when terrorists killed 36 Sikhs in the region. The attack took place on the eve of the then-US President Bill Clinton's visit to India. Two years later, terrorists killed 23 people, including 10 children, in J&K's Jammu while a top State Department official was visiting India.
Pakistan-backed terrorist groups were believed to be behind the attacks in both instances. One of the deadliest terror attacks that shook India was the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, also known as 26/11. On the fateful day, a group of 10 Pakistani terrorists launched attacks at multiple locations in Mumbai, killing 166 persons in the nearly 60-hour siege.
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While India has called out Pakistan for fostering terrorism whenever the issue has been discussed International level, Islamabad has seen the horrors of several terrorist groups within its soil. This begs the question of how India can sit at a negotiation table with Pakistan over the Kashmir dispute when Pakistan has been time and again accused of fostering terrorist groups, which also jeopardises India's national security.