Atta Tarar declares Indian attack a ‘cowardly attack’ in interview with Al Jazeera 

ISLAMABAD: In an interview with Qatar-based Al-Jazeera on Thursday, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar stated that India carried out a cowardly attack on Pakistan “last night”.

The information minister stated that Pakistan has the right to defend itself, and that the country’s “strong military” would protect the country. He also accused India of having “invaded Pakistani territory”.

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“Pakistan has the right to defend itself. [We have] a strong military force”, the information minister stated.

Tarar detailed the loss of innocent lives, mostly civilians, who were ruthlessly murdered by Indian attack on Pakistan. “Innocent civilians have died in Indian attacks; even women and children are not safe from Indian atrocities”.

Atta Tarar went on to declare that the hardliner Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was using the Pahalgam incident for “nefarious purposes”.

Speaking about the long-standing dispute over the territory of Jammu and Kashmir that both states rule in part and claim in full, the minister of information and broadcasting declared it to be a “long-standing issues” between the two nuclear-armed nations.

Read more: India attack on Pakistan: Live news

On Wednesday, India carried out several strikes inside Pakistan, in what its Defense Ministry dubbed as “Operation Sindoor”. Dozens of people, mostly civilians, were killed with several injured. Pakistan retaliated with the Indian sides suffering heavy losses, including downing 6 of its aircrafts, a charge India vehemently denies.