U.S. asks Pak to conduct ‘complete, thorough’ probe into Pathankot attack

The Prime Minister briefed Kerry that Pakistan was swiftly carrying out investigations into Pathankot incident and very soon will reach a conclusion.

Students take part in a candlelight vigil in Chandigarh, India this week for the Indian soldiers killed in a militant attack at Pathankot air base.

The prime minister reiterated his government’s resolve not to let anyone use Pakistan’s soil to carry out terror operations overseas. The US Secretary of State hoped talks between Pakistan and India would continue despite efforts to damage the process.

Pakistani officials say Foreign Secretary-level talks with India are scheduled to take place on Jan.15.

India says it gave Pakistan “specific and actionable information” regarding the Pathankot air base attack on Tuesday.

Analysts credit Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise “goodwill” trip late last month to Pakistan, where he met with Sharif and both sides agreed to work closely to address each other’s concerns.

He said the two foreign secretaries will decide the time schedule of various meetings under the newly agreed “comprehensive bilateral dialogue”. He flew to Pathankot on Saturday morning, exactly a week after a pre-dawn terror attack on the Indian Air Force Station (AFS), in which six terrorists and seven security personnel were killed in three days of encounter.

The NIA has also made initial details of probe into the Pathankot attack public.

The United States has joined the efforts openly and publicly to save the ambiance for restoration of talks between Pakistan and India scheduled for next week.

One of Pakistan’s biggest ally’s in the world China, too, has condemned the attacks. Also at the meeting were a senior officer of Pakistan’s notorious Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and its Director General Military Operations. They have said publicly that they are not going to discriminate between terrorist groups.

Indian officials had earlier said that Islamabad had been given intercepts of telephone calls made by the attackers to their Pakistan-based handlers, the Pakistani phone numbers that were called and the locations of these numbers.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had called up Modi and promised action against the perpetrators of the brazen attack.

Six terrorists, believed to owe allegiance to Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed were gunned down by the security forces after a four-day gun battle.