The Home Ministry initially said the attack was contained on Sunday, but it later emerged that militants were still at the site.
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The United Jehad Council said that by accusing Pakistan of every attack, India neither succeeded in maligning the Kashmir freedom struggle nor would it gain anything in the future.
Pakistan had already condemned the attack, which began on Saturday with a dawn raid on the vast air base that triggered a 14-hour gunbattle.
“The Pakistan government must do all it can to facilitate the Indian government’s hunt for the perpetrators of the attack”, The Nation said in an editorial.
It quoted Sharif as saying that terrorists always tried to derail the process of peace between the two countries.
“You can have a wall, but a wall can be scaled and, probably, a surveillance system such as CCTV was lacking”, said Govind Sisodia, a former senior commander of India’s National Security Guard counter-terrorism unit.
Condemning the attack on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot, the FO spokesman said, “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”.
Meanwhile, the operations entered its fourth day on Tuesday as the base is being combed for the remaining terrorists. UJC comprises mostly the militant outfits active in Jammu and Kashmir and headed by Syed Salauddin, who is based in Pakistan. “That the terrorists could easily intrude into and hold a major air force base hostage for a long period casts doubt on the security of our industrial infrastructure, cities and iconic locations”.
The Pakistani foreign office had a slightly different version of the conversation Sharif had with Modi.
However, search and combing operations are on to ensure that the defence installation is properly secured and sanitised, they added.
Officials said they had received intelligence about a possible attack and had beefed up security at the airfield and repulsed the attackers before they reached any sensitive areas.
“Till now, we have eliminated four terrorists and operation to eliminate two more terrorists, possibly is in the final stage of conduct”, Maj Gen Singh had said.
Referring to Pathankot incident in India he said, similar incidents were also observed in Pakistan. The only building that was damaged was the one in which the terrorists were holed up, he said.
Besides, the terrorists have made multiple calls to their handlers, believed to be based in Bahawalpur in Pakistan’s Punjab, which is the headquarters of terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad.
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Sharif “assured Prime Minister Modi that his government would take prompt and decisive action against the terrorists”, the statement said.
