Pakistan’s X Corps and the lingering question of a terror axis on Indian soil

A guilty mind can never rest easy—and Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif might just have proven. Without a single official accusation from India regarding Pakistan’s role in the Pahalgam terror attack, Asif sprinted to Live 92, a Pakistani news channel, to issue a frantic denial: “Pakistan has no connection with this. This is all home-grown… There is absolutely no connection to us.”

To any rational observer, this knee-jerk reaction wasn’t a defence. It was a confession. A pre-emptive rebuttal in absence of an allegation is not exoneration—it reeks of guilt. Why the panic, if your conscience is clean?

Mass murder in the meadow

On Tuesday, 28 innocent lives were extinguished when terrorists opened fire on a group of tourists at Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam in south Kashmir. Dozens more were grievously injured. The Resistance Front (TRF), a self-declared offshoot of the notorious Lashkar-e-Taiba, claimed responsibility.

Let there be no illusions. The Resistance Front is a façade—an alias for Lashkar-e-Taiba, the blood-drenched brainchild of Pakistan’s deep state. The link isn’t speculative. It’s proven. Arms, funding, training, communication channels, safe havens—all facilitated directly by Pakistan’s military-intelligence complex. It is not a murmur in the corridors of intelligence—it is an open fact.

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Pakistan Army: Sponsor of terror that cries foul

The same Pakistan Army, which once fed and nurtured terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed for strategic gains in Kashmir, now finds itself under siege in its own backyard. In Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, soldiers are being slaughtered by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan—the very Frankenstein’s monster they brought to life.

Yet in Kashmir, Pakistan has continued its so-called ‘policy of a thousand cuts’. The military remains the primary sponsor of terrorism, funding, training and launching terrorists across the Line of Control (LoC). Over decades, Pakistan has institutionalised its cold-blooded tactic of using terrorism as an instrument of state policy.

Khawaja Asif’s nervous outburst, rather than deflecting blame, shines a light on the rot festering within the Pakistani establishment. The blood on the grassy meadows of Pahalgam has fingerprints all over it—and they lead straight to Rawalpindi.

The LoC: A temporary divide-line Pakistan sees as terror highway

Pakistan Army formations along the LoC and International Border are not passive observers. They are accomplices. Intelligence intercepts and ground-level surveillance have repeatedly shown Pakistani soldiers providing covering fire to terrorists attempting infiltration. They know what they’re doing. These aren’t rogue elements. These are brothers-in-arms working in unison.

Particularly concerning are the districts of Baramulla, Kupwara and Anantnag in Jammu and Kashmir. These regions form the frontline of infiltration attempts and are chronically targeted by Pakistan-backed groups. Which Pakistani Army units are helping these terrorists? All signs point to the 12th Infantry Division stationed in Muzaffarabad, across the LoC in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

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Geography of blood

Pahalgam, nestled in Anantnag district in south Kashmir, lies relatively close to the LoC, particularly the stretch opposite Pakistan-occupied Kashmir’s Neelum Valley and Muzaffarabad. As the crow flies, Muzaffarabad lies just 85 to 100 kilometres from the tourist town where civilians were gunned down in cold blood.

This isn’t an accidental closeness. It’s a geographic artery through which terror is pumped into India. The 12th Infantry Division of the Pakistan Army, operating under the notorious X Corps based in Rawalpindi, oversees a significant stretch of the LoC. Brigades stationed near key locations like Athmuqam and Kel in the Neelum Valley are operationally positioned to facilitate cross-border infiltration into Pahalgam and surrounding areas.

The brutality on display in Pahalgam is the direct result of coordination between these Pakistani Army units and terror groups that thrive with their explicit support.

The root of all violence: Pakistan’s X Corps

They say if terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir has a headquarters, it lies in Rawalpindi. Pakistan’s X Corps is not simply a military entity—it is the godfather of terrorism in the Kashmir Valley. Every bullet fired, every improvised explosive device triggered and every cross-border infiltration attempt has the imprimatur of the X Corps.

Their logistical support, ideological grooming and tactical cover continue to foment trouble in the Kashmir Valley, with an aim to turn it into a blood-soaked chessboard. The soldiers of this Corps have acted as state-sanctioned enablers of terror, say security experts.

What happened in Pahalgam was not a rogue act. It was a planned and supported attack, in all likelihood choreographed in the corridors of the very division that claims to be fighting terrorism in its own country.

Terrorism as policy, not strategy

Pakistan’s obsession with Kashmir is not ideological—it is pathological. In a recent speech, Pakistan’s Army chief General Asim Munir shamelessly called Kashmir Islamabad’s “jugular vein,” invoking the two-nation theory and vowing not to abandon the Kashmiri people.

Now, his speech is being seen by security experts as the trigger for the Pahalgam massacre. This also came in conjunction with Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Abu Musa, who spoke at a Rawalakot event in PoK only five days before terrorists targeted tourists after ascertaining their religious identities, threatening to “shower bullets and slit throats” of India in the name of jihad.

A challenge for India’s military

On January 13, 2025, Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi minced no words. Pakistan, he said, remains the “epicentre of terrorism,” and the orchestrator of violence in Jammu and Kashmir. His words were not alarmist—they were prophetic.

Despite the 2021 ceasefire agreement, Pakistan’s military has continued to push infiltrators across the LoC. Launch pads remain active. Terror training camps in PoK’s hinterlands are fully functional. Nothing has changed—except the growing desperation of Pakistan’s terror machinery in the face of a changing narrative in Jammu and Kashmir.

Tourism is rising. The Valley is stabilising. Normalcy is returning. And that is exactly what Pakistan fears most—a peaceful Kashmir that no longer needs the crutch of conflict.

A desperate act to save a dying agenda

According to a senior military officer speaking to the Times of India, 144 terrorists have been neutralised in Jammu and Kashmir over the past two years. Facing defeat, Pakistan’s terror outfits were desperate to make a statement. The Pahalgam attack was that desperate, cowardly statement.

But this attack will not change the trajectory of the Valley. It only reaffirms one truth—that Pakistan’s mask of diplomacy cannot hide its bloodlust. Its denials are meaningless. Its “ceasefires” are a sham. And its leadership, military and political, is complicit in every drop of blood shed in Kashmir.

India shares a 778-kilometre-long LoC with Pakistan and every inch of it is a witness to Pakistan’s duplicity. The world must stop pretending that Pakistan is merely a victim of terror—it is, and always has been, its chief architect.

What happened in Pahalgam wasn’t just a terror attack. It was a message—a chilling reminder that Pakistan remains committed to its terror project in Kashmir. But the world is watching and the truth is undeniable.

The blood in Baisaran meadow cries out not just for justice, but for recognition. Recognition that Pakistan cannot play both arsonist and firefighter. It is time for accountability.