Pakistan to send investigation team to probe Pathankot attack ahead of talks

An SIT would visit India in March after which the foreign secretaries would hold their impending meeting, sources say

ISLAMABAD: The national security advisors of Pakistan and India have agreed to allow a Special Investigation Team (SIT) from Pakistan to visit India in March before the resumption of foreign-secretaries level talks between the two countries, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Prime Minister’s National Security Advisor Lt General (retd) Nasir Janjua and his India counterpart Ajit Doval have agreed to let the SIT visit India in March to carry forward its investigation following the registration of an FIR against the attackers and abettors of Pathankot Airbase attack.

Sources in the federal government have claimed that Janjua and Doval have almost finalised the schedule the  SIT's visit as well as the meeting of the foreign secretaries.



The brazen assault on the Indian Air Force base near Pakistan’s border on January 2 had derailed the recently resumed dialogue process between the two neighbours.

The foreign secretary-level talks initially scheduled for January 15 had been put off immediately afterwards.

According to sources, the SIT would visit India in March first after which the foreign secretaries would hold their impending meeting.

Following the SIT’s visit, Indian Foreign Secretary Jaishankar will visit Pakistan to resume and discuss the mechanism of comprehensive bilateral dialogues.

Doval’s office has conveyed this development to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs so as to make arrangement for the proposed visit of the SIT next month, sources shared, adding that Delhi would soon announce the proposed schedule.



Earlier, immediately after contacting his Indian counter part Narendra Modi, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had constituted a six-member team to work on the leads provided by the India.

After investigating the leads, the SIT had recommended on February 18 to register a case.

However, the investigation team during its interrogation absolved Jash-e-Mohammad (JeM)’s leader Maulana Masood Azher from the case and directed the Punjab Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) to register a case against unidentified persons.

SIT’s convener Additional IG Punjab CTD Rai Tahir neither confirmed nor denied his team’s proposed visit to India, saying that it needs a policy statement and he was unable at the moment to issue any statement.

On February 18, CTD Gujranwala lodged an FIR against Pathankot attackers.

FIR number 06/2016 was lodged under sections 302, 324 and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code, and sections 7 and 21-I of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Nobody has been named in the report lodged on the basis of information provided by the Indian national security advisor that four attackers probably crossed from Pakistan into India and attacked the airbase on January 2.