PM Chairs Meet on Pathankot Terror Attack, NSA, FS Present

“In such situations where weapons are there, some injuries and some deaths will happen on this side also”, Home Secretary Rajiv Mehreshi told reporters in the first official press conference, 36 hours after the attack on Indian Air Force base in Pathankot began. Indeed, a senior Indian intelligence official has been reported as saying that the Pathankot attack may have been planned by a Pakistan army faction peeved at being bypassed by the “fait accompli” of Modi-Sharif jugalbandi.

2016-01-03 02:35:04(IST): Five companies comprising almost 500 personnel have been deployed by the army in the operation. Swaraj held consultations with former ambassador to Afghanistan and PM’s special envoy SK Lambah, former high commissioner to Pakistan G Parthasarathy, former foreign secretary Shyam Saran, former NSA and foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon, former high commissioners to Pak Satyabrata Paul, Sharad Sabharwal and TCA Raghavan.

Ahead of Modi’s visit to Pakistan, the national security advisers of both countries had met in Thailand.

The attackers used an Indian police officer’s vehicle, which was apparently hijacked the previous evening, to infiltrate the air force facility.

“Our full support is with those who were attacked”, he added.

Officials said they are still trying to identify the attackers.

The Prime Minister was briefed about the activities, and military operations. This has deepened suspicions that the attack was not the work of jihadi volunteers and the involvement of the Pakistani state could not be ruled out.

Security experts agreed the presence of the grenade that killed Lt Col Niranjan Kumar of the NSG, while he was trying to defuse it, suggests a degree of training of the militants that could not have come from walk-up volunteers in an organisation such as the Jaish-e Mohammad.

Sunday’s events and the public outrage against Pakistan could put pressure on the government’s resolve to continue talks.

The Prime Minister who was in Karnataka also made no statement on the subject.

The attack at one of India’s major air force bases started a few hours before dawn Saturday when a group of militants entered the area of the base where the living quarters are located, the Defense Ministry said.

Fresh gunfire and a blast have been heard at an Indian air force base at Pathankot near the Pakistani border, as troops reportedly battle the remnants of a group that attacked the site. While addressing the media spokesperson further stated that Pakistan itself has been a target of terrorism.

According to sources, the government is in a wait and watch mode, and there was no decision taken on calling off the foreign secretary level talks which is scheduled to be held on January 15.