Pakistan committed to eliminate terrorism: PM

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the country’s security forces on a visit to Pathankot air force base on Saturday, January 9, one week after a militant attack left 7 soldiers dead.

The Attack came after the Prime Minister’s surprise Christmas visit to Lahore to meet Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

The meeting presided by Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif re-affirmed Pakistan’s strong condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. “We look to see actions to again up these phrases”, the official added.

Sharif also assured that Pakistan won’t allow its soil to be used for terrorism. Attempts to restart talks between India and Pakistan who have fought three wars since becoming separate countries in 1947 have often been derailed by similar past attacks.

The investigation agencies have reportedly found wrappers and packets of medicines and syringes bearing name of Karachi and Pakistan from a building at the Pathankot Air base, where terrorists had taken shelter during the attack.

While India believes the information it has provided was “actionable intelligence”, Pakistani officials do not deem the leads sufficient enough to act on at this moment, the Nation said.

Pakistan wants the DNA samples of the slain terrorists to be shared, adding that evidence given by the Indian government will not stand in a court of law.

The United States has joined the efforts openly and publicly to save the ambiance for restoration of talks between Pakistan and India scheduled for next week.

Kasuri’s reaction comes even as Islamabad is pushing for a sustained dialogue in the wake of the daring attack at an air base, where a sizeable number of Indian Air Force’s MiG-21 fighter planes and Mi-25 attack helicopters were based.

Officials of the NIA, which has taken over the probe into the attack, also briefed the Prime Minister on the progress of the investigation.

The evidence furnished by India includes intercepts of phone calls made by the six terrorists to their handlers in Pakistan.

Advisor to the Pakistan Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz told the National Assembly that the Foreign Secretary-level would be held on January 15, whereas any clarity on whether talks were on or not was yet to come from India.

Earlier, Indian authorities said they were awaiting Pakistan’s response on the information provided by Delhi and the decision on resumption of dialogue would be made in the light of Islamabad’s reply.