Islamabad: Pakistan on Wednesday detained "several individuals" belonging to JeM, which is suspected to have engineered the Pathankot terror attack, and sealed its offices after India linked Islamabad's "prompt and decisive" action to the fate of Foreign Secretary-level talks scheduled on Friday.
Pakistan is also considering sending a special investigation team to Pathankot as more information would be required to carry forward the process of cooperation with India.
The Pakistani action, which was reviewed at a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, come as the fate of the FS-level talks hung in balance with just two days for Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar to go to Islamabad for talks with his counterpart on resuming the bilateral dialogue process.
Pakistan plans to send team to India for cooperation on the issue of Pathakot attack: Govt sources.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 13, 2016 A meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was informed on Wednesday that offices of JeM that allegedly conducted Pathankot attack were secretly operating in four cities of Punjab.
The offices have been sealed in Bahwalnagar, Bahawalpur, Multan and Muzafargarh cities and the suspected members of the group were also held, top officials briefed Sharif.
Chief of Army Staff General (COAS) Raheel Sharif, DG Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lieutenant General Rizwan Akhtar, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Prime Minister's National Security Adviser Lieutenant-General (r) Nasir Janjua and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif were told in the meeting that the arrested people could be possible facilitators of Pathankot attackers.
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Terrorists belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammad, headed by Maulana Masood Azhar of Kandahar hijack episode, are believed to be behind the Pathankot terror attack in which seven security personnel were killed.
A PMO statement issued after the meeting today said it noted with satisfaction that as part of Pakistan’s commitment to eliminate terrorism from its soil and the expressed national resolve not to allow the territory to be used for acts of terrorism anywhere.
It said "considerable progress has been made in the investigations being carried out against terrorist elements reportedly linked to the Pathankot incident.
"Based on initial investigations in Pakistan, and the information provided, several individuals belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammad have been apprehended. The offices of the organisation are also being traced and sealed. Further investigations are underway," the statement said.
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Last week India put the ball squarely in Pakistan's court, linking the FS-level talks to Islamabad's "prompt and decisive" action in the Pathankot terror attack for which it has provided "actionable intelligence".
An official said that close to a dozen militants have been held so far and were being questioned. He refused to give further information like where they have been held or when they could be produced before any court.
In the terror attack on Pathankot Air Force base that began on January 2, six militants were also eliminated in an operation that lasted four days.
Union home minister Rajnath Singh said Tuesday that India had “no reason to distrust” Pakistan’s assurances that it will take effective action on the inputs given by India about the perpetrators of the Pathankot attack. “The Pakistan government has said it will take effective action. I think we should wait,” Mr Singh said. The foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan that were due to be held from Friday are all set to be somewhat delayed.
The home minister told reporters that since the Pakistan government had given an assurance to India, “there is no reason to distrust (avishvaas) them (Pakistan) so early”.
