APS mastermind was in touch with an Indian consulate during attack: Moeed Yusuf

Prime Minister's adviser on national security, Moeed Yusuf said Tuesday that Pakistan had proof that the Army Public School massacre's mastermind was in contact with an Indian consulate during the attack.

In an interview to veteran Indian journalist Karan Thapar for The Wire (which will be live at 5:00pm IST on their website), Yusuf said that Pakistan has proof of India's ties to terrorism.

This was the first interview by any Pakistani government official to Indian media after India's illegal attempt to annex occupied Kashmir by revoking Article 370 of the Indian constitution.

Holding India responsible for terrorist attacks in Pakistan, Yusuf said that New Delhi had used a consulate "in a neighbouring country" to launch attacks on a five-star hotel in Gwadar, the Chinese consulate in Karachi and the Pakistan Stock Exchange.

He further said that India recently spent $1 million to merge the Tehreek-e-Taliban-Pakistan (TTP) and four other terrorist organisations in Afghanistan under the supervision of RAW officials.

Yusuf said that Aslam alias Achu, a militant involved in the attack on the Chinese consulate, had undergone treatment at a hospital in New Delhi, which was proof of India's involvement in the matter.

He told Thapar that the Indian Embassy in Afghanistan was using think-tanks as a front to funnel money to terrorists in Balochistan.

The national security adviser also said that Pakistan had evidence that the mastermind of the APS massacre was in contact with an Indian consulate and that he had the phone number of the handler as well.

"We have evidence to the T," he was quoted as saying by The Wire.

India sent message expressing desire for talks: Yusuf

During the interview, the national security adviser said that Pakistan had "received a message for a desire for conversation."

According to The Wire, he refused to divulge more details regarding the matter but said that Kashmiris must be a third party in any dialogue between India and Pakistan concerning the issue.

Yusuf also said that Pakistan was willing to discuss terrorism but stressed on diplomacy between the two sides.

"We must sit down like adults," he was quoted as saying.

He said that Pakistan stands for peace and the country wants to move forward.

However, he made it clear that there were at least two preconditions to any talks with India and they were: a) the end of the military siege in occupied Kashmir, and b) the reversal of the domicile law.

The other pre-conditions were that India should stop state terrorism against Pakistan and put a stop to the human rights violations in occupied Kashmir.

According to The Wire, Yusuf spoke about Indian agent Kulbhushan Jadhav during the course of the interview and said that the RAW agent "has been caught with his pants down".

Yusuf denied Indian allegations during the interview that Pakistan did not grant unimpeded and unconditional consular access to New Delhi.

Talking about the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the Pakistani national security adviser did not mince words in blaming India for the culprits not being punished severely, saying that India was, “deliberately delaying sending evidence and witnesses” as it wanted to use the issue to embarrass Pakistan in front of the world.