After admitting Masood Azhar's presence in Pakistan, Shah Mahmood Qureshi says his govt in touch with JeM leadership

After admitting that Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar is in Pakistan and "unwell", Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that his government has been in touch with the leadership of the terrorist group which has denied responsibility for the Pulwama attack of February 14 in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed. 

The Jaish-e-Mohammed had claimed responsibility for the Pulwama attack in which a suicide bomber targeted a convoy of CRPF personnel, killing at least 40 of them. 

In an interview to BBC on Friday night, Qureshi said the JeM leadership was contacted and they have not claimed responsibility for Pulwama.

Speaking on the escalation of India-Pak tensions, Qureshi said, "Pakistan wants peace, we want stability. We want to look forward. We have issues but we want to resolve these issues. How do we resolve these issues? By firing missiles at each other? No! By talking to each other. By sharing evidence."

When countered by the interviewer that this crisis began after Pulwama attack for which the JeM claimed responsibility, Qureshi said there is confusion on that. 

"They have not claimed responsibility of that. There is some confusion on that," he said. When asked to clarify, he said. "The confusion is that the leadership had been contacted and they said no. They deny that. That's the confusion."

When asked to elaborate as on who contacted the leadership of JeM, the Pak Foreign Minister said, "The people who are known to them."

"They claimed no responsibility. They deny them," he added. 

In another interview with US media outlet CNN, Qureshi had earlier admitted that Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar is in Pakistan and is "unwell", but said the government can act against him only if India presents "solid" and "inalienable" evidence that can stand in a court of law. 

India has been repeatedly trying to list him as a "global terrorist" by the UN. However, China, an ally of Pakistan, has blocked India's efforts by using veto.

India has handed over a dossier to Pakistan with "specific details of the JeM complicity in Pulwama terror attack and the presence of JeM terror camps and its leadership in Pakistan." India also expressed regret at the denial by Pakistan's political and military leadership at the presence of terrorist infrastructure in territories under its control.

"He is in Pakistan, according to my information. He is unwell to the extent that he can't leave his house, because he's really unwell," Qureshi told CNN when asked about Azhar.

Qureshi also added that the release of captured IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was a "peace gesture" and must be seen as Pakistan's "willingness to de-escalate". 

Varthaman, who was in Pakistan's custody since Wednesday, was released at the Wagah border on Friday.