Pathankot air base attack: Pakistan pledges to assist India with probe

Civil, military leadership on the same page on war against terrorism

ISLAMABAD:

The civil and military leadership of Pakistan on Friday pledged their commitment to cooperate with India on the Pathankot air base attack, and mulled over strategy and mechanism of cooperation with the neighbouring country.

According to a communiqué issued by the Prime Minister’s House, a high-level meeting chaired by PM Nawaz Sharif reviewed the regional situation.

The meeting discussed the hours-long assault on an Indian Air Force base near the Pakistan border which left at least 12 people dead.

Condemning the incident, Pakistan reiterated its commitment to cooperate with India to eradicate the menace of terrorism afflicting the region.

In line with Pakistan’s commitment to effectively counter and eradicate terrorism, the meeting reviewed the progress made on the information provided by the Indian government. “It was decided to remain in touch with the Government of India in this regard,” the PM House statement said.

The meeting was attended by Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, PM’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz, PM’s Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi, National Security Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Nasser Khan Janjua, Inter-Services Intelligence Director General Lt Gen Rizwan Akhtar, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry and Military Operations DG Maj Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza. The meeting affirmed Pakistan’s strong condemnation of terrorism in all forms and manifestations.

Sources in the federal government said the country’s top civil and military leadership held a detailed discussion on the information shared by India and the United States for Pakistan to investigate the Pathankot air base attack.

They said the civil and military leadership also discussed US State Department spokesman John Kirby’s presser in this regard and issued the above communiqué, which not only answered many questions but also gave a rebuttal to many forces.

An insider said the US had approached Pakistan to convey its reservations and information regarding the post-attack scenario. He said the US authorities advised Pakistan that if it showed any laxity in the investigation on information received from India, then it could cause a conflict between the two neighbours.

The official statement issued from the PM House clearly states that the civil and military leadership are on the same page on the war against terrorism.

“It was noted with satisfaction that Pakistan’s counterterrorism campaign has made significant gains and that Pakistan’s leadership and institutions are working in complete harmony to counter terrorism and extremism,” added the statement.

Regarding the misuse of Pakistani soil, the statement said: “The people of Pakistan have evolved a political consensus for action against all terrorists and terrorist organisations without any distinction, and have resolved that no terrorist would be allowed to use Pakistan’s soil for committing terrorism anywhere in the world.”

The huddle hoped that the meeting of the foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India scheduled for January 15 would take place as planned.

“The meeting expressed confidence that building on the goodwill generated by the recent high-level contacts, the two countries would remain committed to a sustained, meaningful and comprehensive dialogue process,” said the PM House.

A source said the huddle also discussed a possible meeting between the two countries’ NSAs. He said India seeks a meeting between Janjua and Ajit Doval on the Pathankot assault before January 15, but Pakistan wants the meeting to take place after the foreign secretaries’ huddle.

The insider said Pakistan wishes to discuss other bilateral issues with India besides terrorism, which is why the former wants the foreign secretaries’ meeting to be held at any cost.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 9^th, 2016.