India accuses Pakistan of Pathankot attack again

New Delhi has not taken any decision on holding talks; waits to see if neighbour takes action against culprits; Islamabad denies any hand in airbase incident

NEW DELHI: Once again Indian Defense Minister Monhar Parkartack has accused Pakistan of involvement in the Pathankot Airbase attack. 

Speaking at a reception in Ghaziabad, Parkartack once again presented an astonishing logic and different point of view on the incident. He said that Pakistan thinks that it can damage India. One can understand an attack in Kashmir but what intentions could be behind an attack in Mumbai, he questioned. 

Meanwhile, Indian Foreign Office spokesman Waqas Saroop in a talk in New Delhi stated that there is no truth in a statement that dates are being finalized for talks between the two countries. He said that the representatives of both the countries were in contact and the National Security Advisors of both the countries were also in constant contact after the Pathankot attack. But the two countries did not agree on holding talks and no negotiations were ever held in this regard. 

The Indian Foreign Office spokesman said that India was awaiting the progress Pakistan makes regarding the Pathankot attack and is keenly viewing what action Islamabad takes against the persons India has named for their involvement in the attack and against whom proof has been provided to Pakistan. He said India expects that Pakistan takes strict action against these persons as it has been promised by different Pakistani officials and leaders. 

He said India has shared what it believes is concrete evidence of a group’s involvement, including the phone numbers to which calls were made. He further said that India has also provided the DNA samples of the four terrorists killed during the Pathankot siege and believes it has a strong case against the group. The NIA has also put in a request that it be allowed to send a team to Pakistan but the aide said it was “very unlikely.”

Waqas Saroop made it clear that it is not India which has suspended the talks process but rather India desires a composite dialogue with its neighbour but it is imperative that before these talks are held, a congenial atmosphere be created for holding talks. 

Waqas Saroop talking about the Mumbai attack said that it is a test case for our relationship and we wait to see if Pakistan takes action against those persons involved in this attack and are on Pakistani soil. He said we wait and see the seriousness of Pakistan and whether it takes any action against the culprits or not. 

Meanwhile, in a TV interview, Pakistani Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhary said that “Islamabad is not convinced that its soil was used to plan the strike” and no such evidence has been given which proves the involvement of any Pakistani agency in any attack in India. On the talks issue, he said that the conditions India wants to impose are not acceptable to us. He said our investigative authorities are working on the proof provided by India on the Pathankot incident. He said such investigations take time and sometimes it takes years. 

The Foreign Secretary said that India has already given Pakistan a clean chit on the Pathankot attack and now the next step is continuation of the dialogue process and both countries must see how to proceed with the talks process. He declared that now the ball is in the Indian court and we will wait and see when it is sent back to us. He said it is not only the Pathankot attack that needs to be reviewed but we have to talk on Kashmir and Siachen and other issues. He said it is not correct that one issue should be highlighted and the whole process of dialogue is sabotaged.