Pak pledges full support on Pathankot

Lauding the security forces for their counter-offensive against the six Pakistan-based terrorists who were neutralised after they attacked the Pathankot airbase, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who flew in here on Saturday a week after the attack, said he was satisfied with the “decision-making and its execution”.

Security forces had on Friday declared the air force station fully sanitised after a massive combing operation spanning over three days.

A Security forces jawan guards inside the Pathankot Air Force base after the end of the military operation against militants on Tuesday.

“Aziz’s confidence about “Pak-India talks intact” can be interpreted that Pakistan is serious about acting on the leads provided by India and may well lay hands on those suspected of being involved in the attack before January 15″, a government official told PTI.

The information include intercepts of telephone calls made by the militants to their handlers, and the locations of the numbers which they had called in Pakistan.

Earlier at a prime time interview, Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry had reiterated that Pakistan will not allow terrorists to use its territory to launch attacks on the other countries.

In a pre-dawn attack on January 2, a group of heavily-armed Pakistani terrorists struck at the Air Force base in Punjab, killing seven security personnel.

The Prime Minister met Indian Air Force personnel at the airbase, which had witnessed an 84-hour siege.

Following the incident, the United Jihad Council, a conglomerate of pro-Pakistan groups and based in Pakistan-Administrated Kashmir, claimed responsibility for the 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. Indian law enforcement agencies have detained the family of Salwinder Singh, the superintendent of police, whose vehicle was hijacked by the attackers and then drove it to the heavily guarded air base.

Spokesman John Kirby said Pakistan has condemned the attack and has made clear its commitment to investigate it. “It’s not for us to ascribe a timeline to somebody else’s investigation” Kirby said in response to a question at a regular briefing.

Pakistani media reports said the meeting expressed confidence that the two neighbours would remain committed to “sustained, meaningful and comprehensive dialogue” building on the goodwill generated through meetings between their Prime Ministers.