Pakistan on Thursday alleged that India was once again pretending to be the “victim of terrorism” in the wake of the recent militant attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir, all the while continuing to support terrorist activities in Pakistan.

At a press briefing, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said Indian entities are again trying to malign Pakistan’s image in the world by falsely blaming the country for Tuesday’s deadly attack in Kashmir’s Pehelgam.

Speaking after a high-level meeting over the recent flare-up in tensions with India, Ishaq Dar demanded valid evidence from New Delhi linking Pakistan with the heinous act, reports the DAWN.

At the briefing, Information Minister Ataullah Tarar said, “The entire world knows this with clarity that India has been using terrorism to victimise itself.”

Defence Minister Khwaja Asif said that although India has not officially named Pakistan for the incident, the Indian media, ruling party and other stakeholders were blaming the country.

“[Narendra] Modi is the only world leader who was denied a visa by the US and it was on the grounds of terrorism,” Asif said.

“We have categorically condemned this [attack]. We condemn all forms of terrorism anywhere in the world without any hesitation, be it in India.”

He said that without any hesitation, Pakistan was the greatest victim of terrorism in the world.

Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said Pakistan had noted the arrival of some “foreign nationals” in Srinagar who being monitored by Pakistan intelligence agencies.

“We know that Indian intelligence is supporting them and the foreigners are trying to export IEDs (improvised explosive devices). You can imagine where they are trying to export them,” he said, adding that Pakistan’s armed forces were ready to respond to any challenge.

“We are prepared in regard to defence. If anyone tries to attempt any adventure, then they’ve tried in the past as well [and failed] so this time around it will be even worse for them.”

“Terrorism is raging in Pakistan, both in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan,” the defence minister said, alleging that sponsors and leaders of banned militant outfits, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Balochistan Liberation Army (bla), “are sitting in India and they get treatment there”. “This is not speculation, this is hard fact,” he added.

Khawaja Asif said terrorism was being exported to Pakistan, adding that whatever is emanating from Afghanistan or happening in Balochistan “clearly shows the footprints and fingerprints of India”.

He said India had as a state “exported terrorism” to Canada and the United States with protests by their leadership as well. “Thank God there are no such allegations against Pakistan,” Khawaja Asif added.

The defence minister said that if India were to officially name Pakistan in the backdrop of the Pahalgam incident, the country would give a “befitting response”.

“There should not be any doubt about that, neither to India or the international community,” he said, adding that Pakistan had the complete right to its self-defence.

Citing the example of Indian national Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav, he said that there were a series of incidents in the past 15 to 20 years which proved that India played a part in terrorism in Pakistan.

He said that groups like the TTP and the BLA were proxies of India who had declared war on Pakistan. “India is already fighting a low-intensity war through terrorists against us,” he said.

“If they want to ramp up its scale then we are ready for that, let no have any doubt. We are not about to fold to any international pressure when it comes to our soil and security.”

Asif said Pakistan’s unity would be in full display on the international scene if the propaganda since the past few days took on another form and “India will get to know too how we can respond”.

“India is preparing for war and terrorist attacks in Pakistani cities. I want to say that we are ready for a response and it will be tit-for-tat if our citizens are endangered. Indian citizens will not remain safe. If even one citizen is harmed in an Indian-perpetrated/orchestrated act, then we will make them pay through their noses.”