Nawaz assures Modi of Pakistan’s full cooperation in Pathankot air base attack

Security forces killed five terrorists.

In a separate development, the United Jehad Council (UJC) – an umbrella organisation of about a dozen Kashmiri terrorist outfits – issued a statement on Monday, claiming responsibility for the Pathankot attack.

It said specific and actionable information in this regard has been provided to Pakistan. Meanwhile, Pakistan has started working on “leads” given by Indian NSA Ajit Doval to his Pakistani counterpart Nasser Khan Janjua. Besides, the attack on the Indian Consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif (Afghanistan) is also suspected to have been carried out by Pakistan-based militant groups.

The terrorist attack on India’s Pathankot air force base, coming close on the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goodwill visit to Pakistan, seems to be aimed at sabotaging the resumption of Pak-India peace process. Attempts to restart talks have been frequently thwarted by attacks between the two countries.

“We have been clear with the highest levels of the government of Pakistan that it must continue to target all militant groups”, he said.

A senior External Affairs Ministry official said that a powerful explosion, which shook a double-storeyed building at the air base on Monday morning, indicated that two terrorists might have been hiding in Pathankot.

Speaking to Modi, Nawaz reportedly “appreciated the maturity shown by the government of India in its statements”, while conveying his “sadness and grief” over the loss of lives. “The challenge of terrorism calls for strengthening our resolve to a cooperative approach”, he added.

Operations to “eliminate” two remaining militants were “possibly…in the final stages”, a National Security Guard official said at a press conference at the Pathankot airbase, near the border with Pakistan, where on Saturday a number of militants stormed the secure military site.

Lauding the valiant efforts of the security forces for defending the Pathankot air base from the fidayeen, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday said six terrorists have been neutralised so far in the combing operation, which is still on for safety goal.

India and Pakistan must accordingly “proceed very cautiously”, it said.

The Sena also said that had the Congress been in power today, there would have been demands to strike at Pakistan and avenge the deaths of soldiers, but now nothing is being done about the incident. “We will investigate according to information given by India”.