While it believes warmer relations between India and Pakistan would be in the interest of both countries, the USA says it was for them to resolve issues bilaterally after the terrorist attack on an Indian Air Force base.
Advertisement
Pakistan will investigate leads and information provided by the government of India, Sharif’s office said in a readout of the call.
Mr Kirby said Pakistan government should not discriminate among terrorist groups. “Prime Minister Modi strongly emphasised the need for Pakistan to take firm and immediate action against the organisations and individuals responsible for and linked to the Pathankot terrorist attack”.
He said the forces had to tackle terrorists holed up in a very complex area of buildings and trres.
While praising Indian security forces for eliminating the attackers, Parrikar also alluded to “some gaps” in security that allowed the attackers to reach the base in the northwestern state of Punjab. He also said that Sharif is not in a condition to take any action against the culprits, and it also shows that he did not take Pakistan army in his confidence.
Asked if Pakistan was taking enough steps against terrorist networks like Lashkar-e-Taeba and Jaish-e-Mohammad which are targeting India, Kirby said the U.S. wants to see Pakistan continue to press the fight against all terrorists without discrimination. Incipient pledges of goodwill between Indian and Pakistani leaders have nearly always been followed by terrorist attacks.
“We obviously want to help them particularly in light of that bad terrorist incident where we saw an extremist organisation carry out an attack against an elementary school inside Pakistan”.
“India and Pakistan are important countries in South Asia”. While officials on both sides did not confirm the reports, a senior intelligence official confirmed to The Hindu that a “specific alert” was received in late December from the intelligence agencies of “a third country” around Christmas day.
Last weekend’s attack by Pakistani militants on an Indian air base should hardly have come as a surprise. Despite the early warnings, however, the terrorists were able to breach the security of the airbase and continue their attack for more than 60 hours.
Advertisement
“We stand with our friend India during this time and urge all nations in the region, including Pakistan, to join together to bring the attackers to justice”, said Poe who is Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade.
