PHOTO: AFP
New Delhi has linked the Pakistan government to the January 2 brazen attack on an Indian Air Force (IAF) base in Pathankot in the northern state of Punjab that killed seven soldiers. India had previously blamed the Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) militant group for the assault, which triggered two days of gunfights.
On Tuesday, however, a senior cabinet minister said the militants could not have carried out the attack on the air base without Islamabad’s support.
“Pakistan’s non-state actors were definitely behind the
attack. Also, no non-state actor from there [Pakistan] can function smoothly without the state’s support,” Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar told Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India’s parliament.
“The entire details of the attack will only come out in the National Investigation Agency (NIA) investigation,” he said. The NIA, a federal police unit that investigates terror offences, is carrying out a probe into the case.
Parrikar was responding to a question by Shiv Sena lawmaker Sanjay Raut, who had asked if the attack was carried out with the help of Pakistan Army. “Does the government believe it was just a terror attack or done with the help of Pakistan Army,” Raut asked.
Meanwhile, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju informed Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament, that for the ‘first time’, Pakistan has taken action on terror strikes in India by registering a case to investigate the role of its citizens accused of being involved in the Pathankot attack. “A case has been registered [by Pakistan]. This is for the first time Pakistan has taken action,” he said.
India has shared with Pakistan some ‘leads’ to establish the Pathankot attack was handled from Punjab. Subsequently, the Pakistan government mounted a province-wide crackdown against the JeM. Dozens of JeM activists were detained and offices of the group were sealed.
Late last month, the prime minister’s foreign policy aide, Sartaj Aziz, told an Indian newspaper that JeM leader Maulana Masood Azhar was also in ‘protective custody’. However, the FIR registered in Pakistan does not contain any names. “The FIR is only a first stage report and subsequent FIRs will definitely carry names,” Aziz said.
Premier Nawaz Sharif has already formed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the alleged Pakistani link in the Pathankot attack. The SIT will visit India to see the evidence Indian investigators have. Pakistani officials say New Delhi has agreed to receive the SIT.
The Punjab government has also formed a joint investigation team (JIT) to probe the air base attack. And Tariq Fatemi, special assistant to the prime minister on foreign affairs, said on Monday the JIT is expected to complete its work this week. “Once investigations on this side are over, Pakistani investigators will visit India to complete the probe.”
The rare targeting of an Indian military installation outside the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir came days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise visit to Pakistan in December.
It led to the postponement of peace talks planned between the two countries, with Modi urging Nawaz to take ‘firm and immediate action’.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 2nd, 2016.
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