And Masood to Pakistanis is a saint. Anybody running a clutch of madrasas in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is by default a holy man. Azhar Masood is no exception. As far as Pakistanis go, when Azhar kicks the boot, he will go to Jannat. If he doesn’t find place in heaven, don’t be surprised if a protest is lodged at the Jannat Headquarters, which in Pakistan happens to be Pak Army’s GHQ, where sit all the devils of Pakistan including the DGISPR and Gen Qamar Bajwa.

The Pakistan Foreign Office got going with “Operation Pulwama Cover-up” by inviting foreign diplomats for a briefing, telling them that India’s allegation that Pakistan-based “elements” were involved in the Pulwama attack cannot be corroborated from the dossier sent by India in February, on the evening Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was released.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal said Pakistani investigators examined Jaish suicide bomber Adil Ahmed Dar’s “confessional video” and also sought “details” from mobile service providers of numbers India mentioned in the dossier to “analyse the exchange of messages.” He disclosed that the United States was also contacted for information of messages exchanged through Whatsapp.

As expected, Pakistan could not find anything in the “six-part spread” dossier to indict JeM, other than “generalized allegations.” Pakistan’s ‘Mumbai 26/11 syndrome” kicks in without fail whenever faced with allegations of fomenting terrorist trouble in India. Modi Friday morning claimed his patriotism cannot be questioned by anybody; that he gave Pakistan rope long enough but every time Pakistan chose to hang itself rather than act on credible evidence.

But, according to Faisal, Pakistani authorities detained and “interrogated 54 people” but “so far no evidence regarding their involvement in the Pulwama attack has emerged.” More pertinent, and by far serious, Faisal told the foreign diplomats that the dossier made “no mention of Masood Azhar”, the chief of Jaish-e-Mohammad. And, quite as expected from Pakistan, “no militant camps had been found on the 22 locations pointed out by India” in the dossier. Pakistan has sought “more information” to “continue its investigation.”

The Modi government, which is quick to label previous UPA governments “failures” when it comes to Pakistan, hasn’t itself had much success in convincing Pakistan that non-state actors operating on Pakistan soil were behind terror attacks in India. Whether it was Pathankot or Uri, and now Pulwama, Pakistan had shown the middle finger to the Modi Government, and India’s Foreign Ministry. Modi may go to polls shouting “military successes” to his domestic audience, but the global diplomatic community isn’t convinced if India doesn’t show “actionable evidence” to nail Pakistan.

India responded to Pakistan’s no go on Pulwama with “disappointed”, saying that “it (Pakistan) has not shared details of credible action, if any, taken by it against terrorists or terrorist organisations based in territories under its control", adding that India was "hardly surprised" as an "identical script" had been scripted by Pakistan in the past; that it’s a "well-known fact" that JeM, a UN-designated terrorist group, and its leader Masood Azhar were based in Pakistan.

India pointed out that there's no dearth of sufficient actionable information and evidence in Pakistan itself to take action against them, if there is sincerity and intent to do so. India, of course, doesn’t believe in calling foreign envoys for a briefing. That’s Pakistan’s style. Modi believes in “hugplomacy” to put India’s point of view out.

And bland oft-repeated statements like "Pakistan should abide by the commitment it gave in 2004, and which its current leadership has recently repeated, vowing not to allow any territory under its control to be used for terrorism against India in any manner. Pakistan should take immediate, credible, irreversible and verifiable actions against terrorists and terror organisations operating from territories under its control."

No surprise, then, that Pakistan gets away with murder every time terror outfits based in Pakistan carries out a terror strike in India. Modi’s boast that he has isolated Pakistan globally doesn’t amount to much, does it? If anything, the only country not talking to Pakistan is India. Pakistan sees to it that its point of view, however convoluted and packed with lies, is conveyed to the global community by whatever means available.

And at a time when Afghanistan is at the centre of world attention, especially that of the United States, Pakistan is by far more important than India. No wonder Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is busy ratcheting up controversy centred on Afghanistan with provocative statements. India’s isolation as far as Afghanistan is concerned is almost total. As of now, none of the global powers is interested in Pulwama. (IPA Service)