Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Mr Sharif firmly on the phone two days ago that India wants to see urgent action taken against those who conceived and executed the attack.
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Even as the Government remained tight-lipped on whether to go ahead with the Foreign Secretary-level talks, both the National Security Advisers (NSAs) of India and Pakistan went into a huddle to ascertain the road ahead in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on Pathankot air force base.
Sharif “assured Prime Minister Modi that his government would take prompt and decisive action against the terrorists”, the statement said.
Indian interests have been targeted twice since Saturday in spectacular assaults: an attack on its consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif, and a raid by Islamist insurgents on an air force base in the northern Indian state of Punjab.
The US on Tuesday said that it expects Pakistan to act against Indian air base attackers and target militant groups.
Questions are now being raised in New Delhi on how the government will react and whether the attacks will impact talks scheduled to be held between the foreign secretaries of the two countries in Islamabad later this month. Riedel also said that the attack was done using a terrorist group that ISI had created 15 years ago.
“We understand the pain of many families who have lost their dear ones in this tragedy, as Pakistan itself is a major victim of terrorism”.
Senior officer of National Security Guard (NSG), Lt Col Niranjan Kumar, was killed in an accidental explosion during combing operations at Pathankot air base on Sunday pushing the number of casualties among security forces to seven. He said it would be better for the NIA to complete its investigation.
“We urge all the countries in the region to work together to disrupt and dismantle terrorist networks and to bring to justice the perpetrators of this particular attack”.
“Gen Raheel Sharif, got a warm embrace from the Pentagon last fall?despite the ISI support for the Afghan Talibans offensive against the Kabul government and despite the Pakistani military backing of terror groups like JeM”, he said.
Modi’s comments came as India’s defense minister said the Pathankot attack had exposed “some gaps” in security following media criticism of how the incident was handled.
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Struggling to contain a flare-up between Iran and Saudi Arabia that threatens to impair its West Asia strategy, the U.S is relieved that responses from both India and Pakistan after the terror strikes do not signal any immediate risk of relapse into hostilities in South Asia.
