Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood to the ministry of external affairs (MEA) on Friday afternoon and “issued a very strong demarche in connection with the terrorist attack in Pulwama yesterday,” said a statement from the MEA. “He conveyed that Pakistan must take immediate and verifiable action against the Jaish-e-Mohammed and that it must immediately stop any groups or individuals associated with terrorism operating from its territories. “The foreign secretary also rejected the statement made by the foreign ministry of Pakistan yesterday,” the statement added.
Pakistan's foreign ministry had stated that “we strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian media and government that seek to link the attack to Pakistan without investigations.” Its spokesperson had added that the “attack on Pulwama in Indian Occupied Kashmir is a matter of grave concern. We have always condemned heightened acts of violence in the Valley.”
The suicide attack on a bus carrying personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force claimed 40 lives on Thursday. It is the worst attack on security forces in the Valley in recent years. The attack has been condemned across the world, with most of them expressing solidarity with India.
