ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday said it wanted to send a special investigation team in India, to get additional information about the terrorist attack at Pathankot air base.
The decision came at a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif which reviewed the prevailing security situation in the country.
“Based on the initial investigations in Pakistan, and the information provided by the Indian authorities in connection with January 2 attack, several individuals belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammad have been apprehended,” the official statement released at the end of the meeting said.
“The offices of the organization are also being traced and sealed. Further investigations are underway.”
It was also noted that “considerable progress” has been made in the investigations, being carried out against terrorist elements reportedly linked to the Pathankot incident.
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Advisor to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, National Security Advisor retired Lt General Nasir Khan Janjua, Personal Assistant to Prime Minister Tariq Fatemi, Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif, Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif, DG ISI Rizwan Akhter and other high officials are also present in the meeting.
The official statement said that it noted with satisfaction Pakistan’s commitment to eliminate terrorism from its soil.
“The meeting expressed national resolve not to allow our territory to be used for acts of terrorism anywhere,” the statement said.
“In the spirit of the cooperative approach, it was also decided that in order to carry the process forward, additional information would be required, for which the Government of Pakistan is considering to send a Special Investigation Team to Pathankot, in consultation with the Government of India.”
“The meeting reiterated that in line with our decision to counter and completely eliminate terrorism, Pakistan would remain engaged with India on this issue,” the official statement said.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had earlier assured his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi that Islamabad would not hesitate to take “prompt and decisive action” if the involvement of Pakistan-based elements in the attack on the Indian airbase was proved beyond doubt.
The attack came about a week after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a surprise visit to Pakistan, the first by an Indian premier in 11 years.
Modi had urged Nawaz to take “firm and immediate action” against those behind the attack after New Delhi had passed on “specific and actionable information” about the incident. NNI
