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Pakistan’s Pathankot statement conveys considerable progress: MEA

Sources Deccan Herald spoke to late on Wednesday also indicated that New Delhi might not call off India-Pakistan Foreign Secretary level talks, but propose to Islamabad to defer it by a few days, ostensibly to assess actions initiated by the neighbouring country against the JeM.

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When asked if the national security advisers of the two countries have spoken over the phone, he replied that the NSAs have been in regular touch.

The MEA once again said that it has no confirmation on the arrest of Jaish chief Maulana Masood Azhar.

The Pakistani foreign office said a new date had not yet been decided.

Today the Pakistani foreign office denied of that sort and said it had nothing to add to that information.

Diplomats say both sides have been discussing rescheduling the talks avoiding a cancellation.

“Pakistan to send a team of special investigators to the Pathankot airbase”, tweeted Pakistan Prime Minister’s Office earlier.

But the spokesman said he had no knowledge about Masood Azhar’s arrest.

To a question, Qazi Khalilullah said the government is in contact with the Chinese government for implementation of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project, and several meetings have already taken place on that count.

He said, “We are looking for action that is credible”.

The crackdown in Punjab province, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s power base and the headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammad, follows the arrest this week of the militant group’s leader Maulana Masood Azhar and several members of the militant group.

In a significant decision, India has chose to allow the visit of a Pakistani Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the attack and offered all necessary cooperation to bring the perpetrators to justice.

The spokesman welcomed Pakistan’s announcement on Wednesday that JeM activists had been arrested and its offices sealed.

Further India has also made it clear that it would only defer the talks and not cancel it. However this would depend on the action that Pakistan takes against those behind the Pathankot attack.

The talks, scheduled for tomorrow, will now be held in very near future, the South Block announced.

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In a pre-dawn terror strike on January 2, a group of heavily-armed Pakistani terrorists, suspected to be belonging to the JeM, attacked the IAF base at Pathankot in Punjab and killed seven security personnel. According to reports in Pakistan, Azhar has been taken into preventive custody.

JeM Chief Maulana Masood Azhar