Now, Imran Khan claims Pulwama terror attack an 'indigenous thing'

Washington July 24: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has claimed that the Pulwama terror attack, in which 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives, was an "indigenous" incident.

Pakistan, he said, came in picture, because a group (Jaish-e-Mohammed) based in his country and also in Kashmir claimed responsibility for the attack.

Deflecting a question on Mumbai attacks mastermind and Jamaat-ud Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed, who was recently arrested for the seventh time, Khan said it was in the interest of Pakistan that "we do not allow any armed militant groups to operate" in our country.

"The country has had enough of militant groups. Pakistan is now determined. We would not be disarming them if the security forces were not behind this decision," he said.

Tensions flared up between India and Pakistan after a suicide bomber of terror group Jaish-e-Muhammed attacked the convoy of CRPF personnel in Kashmir's Pulwama district. Amid mounting outrage, the Indian Air Force carried out a counter-terror operation, hitting the biggest JeM training camp in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan on February 26.

Khan, who is currently on a three-day official visit to the US, met President Donald Trump - the first face-to-face interaction between the two leaders - on Monday in the White House. He described the meeting as very successful, which has reset the bilateral relationship.

The meeting between the two leaders also snowballed into a controversy after Trump claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sought help from him to mediate in the Kashmir crisis with Pakistan.

Trump's statement led to angry reactions from the opposition in Parliament on Tuesday, as the government asserted that all outstanding issues between India and Pakistan can be discussed only bilaterally.