India, Pakistan talks deferred after Pathankot air base attack

Pakistani officials say the leader of an outlawed militant group has been taken into “protective custody” for a probe as to whether he is linked to a deadly attack earlier this month on an Indian air base.

Vikas Swarup, India’s External Affairs Ministry spokesman, told reporters that the meeting will now be held in “the very near future”.

The detention of about a dozen members of Jaish-e- Mohammad (JeM), said to be behind the attack, was today welcomed by India as an “important and positive first step” even as it emphasised that “empty statements” alone would not do because it wanted action on the ground.

India has already made its stand clear that unless Pakistan takes a decisive action against those responsible for the attack, the foreign secretary level talks could not go ahead.

Sharif’s statement also said that Pakistan was considering sending a special team to Pathankot to seek “additional information” to spur the investigation, adding the decision was being made in consultation with the Indian government.

The meeting noted “considerable progress” in the Pathankot investigation, and said the offices of Jaish-e-Mohammed – which staged a 2001 attack on the Indian parliament that brought the two countries to the brink of war – are being sealed. The law enforcers also apprehended some close associates of Azhar and “grilled them with regard to the attack” that led to accusations against Pakistan shortly afterwards, the channel further said in a report that could not be independently verified.

A media report on Monday said Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence were helping probe the suspected Pakistani link to the terror attack on the IAF base. India later said it had delivered “actionable intelligence” for Pakistan to act against the attack plotters.

The decision to form the JIT was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Sharif “a few days ago”, it said.

“We wanted something concrete and Pakistan has delivered at least for now”, he said.

Pakistan does not want the foreign secretary-level talks to get derailed as they were expected to pave the way for a comprehensive composite dialogue covering all outstanding disputes, including Kashmir, it added.