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Foreign Secretary-level talks with India will be held soon: Pakistan FO

The MEA said India is yet to receive any official input on the Pak SIT team that might visit Pathankot.

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The Pakistan Government had last week said it had arrested several members of the Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group, which is suspected of being behind the Pathankot Air Base attack earlier this month.

About the Pakistan government’s policy on dialogue with India, Salahudin said: “There have been more than 150 rounds of dialogue and Kashmir issue as a core issue hasn’t come up for a discussion even once”.

“We are resolving the scheduling problem as both the Foreign Secretaries have busy diplomatic schedule in the coming days but we are confident of finding a convenient date for their meeting soon”, the official said.

India has also accepted the proposal of Pakistan to send its SIT team in Pathankot to probe the terror attack.

“As and when they finalize the special investigative team, that is when the issue of the terms of reference of that team, the mandate of that team, where they can go, what they can see, all that will then be discussed between the investigative agencies of the two sides”, he sai.

He was asked about comments by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar that a JIT proposed by Pakistan will not be allowed to visit the Pathankot airbase -the site of the terror attack.

At his weekly briefing here, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup said the National Security Advisers (NSAs) of the two countries had been in touch with each other, though they had not met during this period.

He has called the attack a “continuation of their activity, targeting Indian military installations” rather than a plot to disrupt India-Pakistan talks.

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Reportedly, Syed Salahuddin, Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) chief and United Jihad Council head, took the responsibility for the Pathankot terror attack. We continue to expect robust action by Pakistan against all the perpetrators, ” he said. “India is neither ready to hold talks on the basic issue of Kashmir nor is it ready to accept occupied Kashmir as a party, so this dialogue process is… a waste of time”, he said.

An Indian security personnel stands guard inside the Indian Air Force base at Pathankot in Punjab India