Pathankot attack: No clarity yet whether JeM chief Masood Azhar is detained

Pakistan and India have agreed to reschedule foreign-secretary level talks, Foreign Office Spokesman said on Thursday. “The action against those responsible for Pathankot is still going on, so the Foreign Secretaries must have thought to give some more time before going ahead with the meeting”, he said. In addition, he assured that, India is agree to reschedule the talk.

Pakistan has detained several militants belonging to JeM, including Masood Azhar, and sealed its offices, reported Pakistan media.

After days of suspense, India and Pakistan agreed on Thursday to put off talks between the Foreign Secretaries that were due to be held on Friday in Islamabad. But Vikas Swarup, spokesperson for India’s Foreign Ministry, said on Wednesday night, “We have not received official word on detention of Masood Azhar”.

Pakistani authorities today continued their raids against the banned Jaish-e-Mohammad in different parts of the country in connection with the Pathankot terror attack. “The statement conveys that considerable progress has been made in the investigations being carried out against terrorist elements linked to the Pathankot incident”, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Vikas Swarup said. India had no information regarding the arrest of Jaish-e-Mohammed leader Azhar Masood, according to Swarup.

India then provided “actionable intelligence” to Pakistan and asked it to crack down against the attack masterminds.

The Prime Minister’s Office in Pakistan also confirmed the reports of the crackdown. “We also note that the government of Pakistan is considering sending a Special Investigation Team to investigate the Pathankot terror attack”, said Swarup. Instead of taking an attacking stance against Pak, he acted witty and talked of allowing the country’s investigating team to Pathankot.

Earlier, Pakistan government also chose not to confirm or deny the reports that Azhar has been taken into “protective custody”. Azhar reportedly said that the government’s cracking down on his group would be “very dangerous” for the country.