Pahalgam attack fallout: Jailed Imran Khan warns India against 'misadventure', cites 'nuclear flashpoint'

Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan - File Photo

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday condoled the loss of lives in Pahalgam terror attack, but pinned the blame on the Indian government while claiming Islamabad's innocence.

Khan, who has been sentenced to 14 years in prison over a corruption case, shared an X post, in which he warned India against any "misadventure". "India needs to act responsibly instead of messing with a region already known as "nuclear flashpoint."," he wrote.

Further in the post, Khan again raked up the Kashmir issue, mentioning abrogation of Article 370, while hitting out at "self-serving figures like Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari."

"They will never speak out against India because their illegal wealth and business interests lie abroad. They profit from foreign investments, and to protect those financial interests, they remain silent in the face of foreign aggression and baseless allegations against Pakistan. Their fear is simple: that Indian lobbies might freeze their offshore assets if they dare to speak the truth," he wrote.

This comes amid the heightened tensions between the two countries in the wake of the heinous terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, which claimed 26 lives, on April 22. The Resistance Front - a proxy of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, has claimed responsibility of the attack.

The post has been shared at a time when hectic parleys are underway in New Delhi with Prime Minister Narendra Modi telling the top defence brass that the armed forces have "complete operational freedom" to decide on the mode, targets and timing of India's response to the Pahalgam terror attack.

PM Modi has vowed to pursue the terrorists behind the attack and their patrons, a clear reference to Pakistan which has a history of sponsoring terror strikes in India, to the "ends of earth" and inflict the harshest punishment on them "beyond their imagination".

The prime minister's tough assertions coupled with his government's avowed muscular stand on the issues of national security have heightened expectations of a stringent counteraction from India.

On Monday, Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had said that a military incursion by India was imminent. “We have reinforced our forces because it is something which is imminent now. So in that situation some strategic decisions have to be taken, so those decisions have been taken,” Asif told Reuters in an interview.