Pathankot attack: Time for Modi to focus on India, says Shiv Sena

A senior federal government official said two militants who were hiding in the administrative block of the base had been killed on Sunday, but authorities had yet to recover the bodies.

It said seven Indian soldiers died in return of a cup of tea with Sharif and Modi should concentrate on home front instead of trying to unite the world, as it hit out at Modis surpise visit to Pakistan.

The statement is seen in India as an attempt to show that Kashmiri insurgents were responsible and not militants originating from Pakistan.

‘In line with Pakistan’s commitment to effectively counter and eradicate terrorism, the government is in touch with the Indian government and is working on the leads provided by it, ‘ ministry spokesman Qazi Khalilullah said in a statement.

However, official sources said the government was “mulling options” with regard to the Islamabad meeting.

Officials said the attack bore the hallmarks of previous suspected assaults by Pakistan-based militant groups, underscoring the fragility of recent efforts to revive bilateral talks between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

“These terrorists are holed up in a double storeyed building which is a living accommodation of the Air Force personnel and now the operations are in progress to clear this building from the terrorists”, Brigadier Singh said. “So it is likely to take a long time”.

Since Saturday morning, the base has been swarming with air force commandos, army soldiers, National Security Guard troops and local police.

NIA on Monday registered a case to probe the conspiracy of Pakistan-based terrorist group, believed to be Jaish-e-Mohammed, behind the strike at the IAF base in Pathankot in Punjab. So he urged India and Pakistan to work together against this common threat. The two also held an unscheduled meeting at the Paris climate change talks last month.

Speculation is rife that the heavy arms and ammunition used by the terrorists in the attack were sent over from Pakistan much before the terrorists crossed the International Border. In the past, when it was in opposition, Modi’s right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party was a vocal critic of engagement with Pakistan.