Pahalgam attack: PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi dares India again, blames New Delhi for Jaffar Express hijacking

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi has targeted India once again in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack , stating that they will have to “pay a heavy price” and that they are headed on a “path of destruction”. Naqvi, who has been Pakistan’s Interior Minister since March last year, made the statement during his meeting with Federal Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui on Wednesday, according to Pakistan news portal 24News Digital.

Naqvi had met Siddiqui to discuss the ongoing tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours following the deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, in which 26 people were killed, a majority of whom were summer tourists. India has blamed Pakistan for the attack given the latter’s long history of harbouring terror groups on its soil and allegedly promoting cross-border terrorism.

Pakistan will give befitting response to acts of aggression: Naqvi

The 46-year-old brief the chairman of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement party about the decisions of the National Security Committee meeting in their meeting on Wednesday, and added that Pakistan’s citizens and army were united against India and that they will be able to give a befitting reply to any acts of aggression by New Delhi.

Naqvi also spoke to the press in Islamabad on Wednesday claiming Pakistan would respond with double the force should India choose to act militarily.

He also blamed India for the Jaffar Express attack in March in which 64 people had been killed after militants belonging to the Balochistan Liberation Army hijacked a passenger train traveling from Quetta to Peshawar.

“If India attempts any mischief, the response will be two for one,” The Express Tribune quoted Naqvi as saying.

Naqvi, who had taken over as PCB chief in February last year following Zaka Ashraf’s resignation, had recently slammed the Narendra Modi-led Indian government for the non-military measures taken against Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack – the deadliest terror attack involving civilians on Indian soil since the 26/11 attacks in 2008.

Since the attack, India has suspended the Indus Waters Treaty and closed the Attari-Wagah checkpost in Punjab besides suspending visas for all Pakistani nationals. The Indian government has also blocked several YouTube channels, including that of iconic cricketer Shoaib Akhtar , in the aftermath of the attack.