India had strongly suggested that without action by Pakistan against those responsible for the attacks, it will not go ahead with Foreign Secretary talks of the two countries which had tentatively been set for Friday in Islamabad. This comes hours after the government said it could not confirm that Masood Azhar had been detained, as widely reported by Pakistani media yesterday. India demanded action against the JeM and hinged this to the fate of bilateral foreign secretary-level talks.
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India and Pakistan have agreed to reschedule talks between their foreign secretaries, the Indian foreign ministry said on Thursday, while an investigation into a deadly attack on a military base in Pathankot is carried out.
“The statement conveys that considerable progress has been made in the investigations being carried out against terrorist elements linked to the Pathankot incident”.
Raising questions over the role of Pakistan’s powerful military in the Pathankot terror attack, a former ambassador to India has said that the army does not appreciate Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s attempts to decide on the country’s policy towards India.
The statement was issued after a high-level meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to discuss the country’s security situation. “We know that Kargil happened after (prime minister Atal Bihari) Vajpayee’s visit to Lahore in 1999; Mumbai occurred after progress in the backchannel talks of the mid-2000s; and now Pathankot takes place after another Lahore yatra (trip)”, Qazi said in an article titled “Pathnakot and power plays”, in Dawn newspaper.
Reportedly, the government has also shut down offices of the said banned outfit and it is likely the government will send an investigation team in India.
Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif, Director-General ISI Lt Gen Rizwan Akhtar, Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and other senior officials attended the meeting. India says the assault, which left seven soldiers dead, was carried out by the banned Pakistan-based group Jaish-e-Mohammed.
“Mutual consultations are on regarding the rescheduling of the talks”, he added.
Security forces killed all the terrorists.
Pakistan has said it is considering sending investigators to India to get more information on the Pathankot attack.
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A PMO statement issued after the meeting today said it noted with satisfaction that as part of Pakistan ” s commitment to eliminate terrorism from its soil and the expressed national resolve not to allow the territory to be used for acts of terrorism anywhere.
