Islamabad, February 25: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi challenged his Pakistan counterpart to 'stand by' his words, Imran Khan asked Modi to ‘give peace a chance’. Khan assured the Prime Minister that he stands by his words and will act immediately if India provides Pakistan with "actionable intelligence" on the Pulwama attack. The remark by the Pakistani Prime Minister comes after Modi in a rally in Rajasthan said that there is consensus in the entire world against terrorism.

A statement released by the Pakistan Prime Minister's Office said, "PM Imran Khan stand by his words that if India gives us actionable intelligence, we will immediately act." PM Modi should "give peace a chance", Khan said in the statement. However, India said Khan's offer to investigate the attack if provided proof is a "lame excuse". PM Narendra Modi Dares Pakistan Premier Imran Khan to Act Like ‘Pathan’ on Pulwama Strike, Says ‘Time Has Come to Stand True to Words’.

In the rally, Modi recalled his conversation with Khan during a congratulatory call after he became Pakistan's premier and said he told him "let us fight against poverty and illiteracy". To this, Modi said, Khan gave his word - saying he is a Pathan's son - but went back on it. Pakistan Fails to Understand Threat Posed by JeM, LeT, JuD; Remains 'Grey-Listed': FATF. 

Earlier this month on February 19, Khan assured India that he would act against the perpetrators of the deadly Pulwama terror attack if it shares actionable intelligence with Islamabad, but warned New Delhi against launching any "revenge" retaliatory action. Meanwhile, Ministry of External Affairs in India said it is a well-known fact that Jaish-e-Mohammad and its leader Masood Azhar are based in Pakistan and these should be sufficient proof for Pakistan to take action. Imran Khan Asks Pakistan Army to 'Respond Decisively' to Any Indian Aggression.

The MEA said that the Prime Minister of Pakistan has offered to investigate the matter if India provides proof, which his is a lame excuse. The MEA said, in the horrific attack in Mumbai on 26/11, proof was provided to Pakistan but despite that, the case has not progressed for the last more than 10 years. Adding further the MEA said similarly, there has been no progress on the terror attack on Pathankot airbase. Promises of 'guaranteed action' ring hollow given the track record of Pakistan," it said.

During Khan’s meeting with Modi in December 2015, Khan had said, "we had agreed that since poverty alleviation is a priority for our region, we would not allow any terrorist incident to derail peace efforts, however, long before Pulwama, these efforts were derailed in September 2018".

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 25, 2019 09:45 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).