Pakistan reminds India Samjhauta Express bombing culprits are still roaming free

Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) on Thursday said that even after 19 years, India had failed to bring to justice those responsible for the Samjhauta Express attack, alleging that the four accused, including Indian Army Colonel Shrikant Purohit, were still at large.

At a weekly media briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi said the anniversary of the 2007 Samjhauta Express bombing falls this month. The attack on the cross-border train service between Pakistan and India claimed more than 70 lives, many of them Pakistani nationals.

Andrabi stated that Swami Aseemanand, one of the accused in the case, had publicly confessed to involvement in the attack, while Colonel Purohit had also admitted his role. Despite these developments, he said, India had not succeeded in securing convictions against the four individuals directly involved.

According to the 24NewsHD TV channel, the FO spokesperson strongly rejected a recent statement by India’s Ministry of External Affairs, saying Islamabad did not accept its assertions. Referring to a recent terrorist attack in Balochistan, Andrabi said that the Indian foreign ministry’s reaction to that incident reinforced Islamabad’s longstanding position on regional security concerns.

Turning to diplomatic engagements, the spokesperson said the prime minister recently visited Qatar at the invitation of the Amir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. During the visit, the two sides discussed cooperation in the defence sector, among other areas of bilateral interest.

Andrabi added that the Qatari Amir had accepted the prime minister’s invitation to visit Pakistan and had expressed a desire to deepen economic partnership with Islamabad. He said Qatar’s defence minister and minister of state also met the prime minister during the visit, underscoring the breadth of high-level exchanges between the two countries.

The spokesperson further said that Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar was currently on a visit to Saudi Arabia. Dar is scheduled to attend an extraordinary meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Executive Committee in Jeddah.

According to Andrabi, the meeting will consider illegal decisions taken by Israeli occupying authorities. Dar is expected to present Pakistan’s position on Israeli measures aimed at converting parts of the West Bank into what he termed “so-called state land".

In addition to addressing the OIC session, the deputy prime minister is also scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with foreign ministers of OIC member states on the sidelines of the gathering.

LIVE: Spokesperson's Weekly Press Briefing 26-02-2026 at Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Islamabad https://t.co/vrCfEo7jr4

— Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Pakistan (@ForeignOfficePk) February 26, 2026

Reporter: Anwer Abbas