Terror Attack Investigation: Pakistan Calls for Russian and Chinese Involvement Following Pahalgam Terror Attack

Pakistan has requested that Russia and China participate in the investigation of the recent Pahalgam terror attack, according to new reports.

The attack, which occurred Tuesday in Jammu and Kashmir, resulted in 26 fatalities, predominantly tourists, making it the deadliest incident in the Valley since the 2019 Pulwama attack. The Resistance Front (TRF), known to be a proxy of the Pakistan-based terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), has claimed responsibility.

In response to the attack, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared on Sunday that those responsible would face “the harshest response.”

Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif suggested international involvement during an interview with Russian state-run RIA Novosti news agency, stating: “I think Russia or China or even Western countries can play a very, very positive role in this crisis and they can even set up an investigation team that should be assigned this job to investigate whether India or Mr. Modi is lying or he is telling the truth. Let an international team find out.”

Asif added that Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has also advocated for an international investigation, challenging India to provide evidence of Pakistani involvement rather than making what he characterized as “empty statements.”

Meanwhile, U.S. analyst Andrew Korybko, based in Moscow, pointed out contradictions in Pakistan’s official statements. He noted that Ishaq Dar, who serves as both Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, suggested the attackers “might be freedom fighters,” while Defence Minister Asif told Al Jazeera the incident could have been a “false flag operation.”

Korybko criticized these contradictory narratives in his Substack newsletter, writing: “These scenarios are mutually exclusive and intellectually insulting, and the fact that top Pakistani officials can’t get their story straight suggests that they’re clumsily trying to cover up their side’s complicity.”

He further argued that characterizing the perpetrators of a tourist massacre as potential “freedom fighters” discredits legitimate freedom movements worldwide and implicitly justifies terrorism.