It’s for Pakistan to decide timeline of Pathankot attack probe: US

Washington has no knowledge of Indian evidence; Islamabadmeeting reviews progress on information provided by India;
normal channels of communication with India to be kept open

ISLAMABAD: The United States, while lauding Pakistan’s clear intentions to investigate the attack on Pathankot airbase in India, has said it is for Pakistan to decide the timeline of probe into the matter. 

It said Islamabad had been in touch with Washington at different levels every day since the terrorist attack as investigations were underway. Spokesman at the State Department reiterated the US commitment to encouraging bilateral and multilateral efforts to battle the threat of terrorism in the region. The spokesman said Pakistan has condemned the attack and has made clear its commitment to investigate it.

“It's not for us to ascribe a timeline to somebody else's investigation," the spokesman said. "Obviously, in all investigations, you want it to be thorough and you want it to be complete,” he added.

"Let us let them (Pakistan) do that, and let's see where the investigation goes," he said. "We obviously would like to see it investigated too, as completely and as thoroughly as possible so we can better understand what happened,” the spokesman added. 

The US has no knowledge of Indian evidence on the Pathankot attack. Islamabad says that the entire leadership and institutions were in complete harmony to fight terror. New Delhi had two days ago provided Islamabad with 'leads' through diplomatic channels which were related to the alleged telephone calls made by the terrorists to Pakistan and audios of the conversations held.

While India has made the January 15 Foreign Secretary level talks ‘conditional’ to progress on the Pathankot investigations, Pakistan meanwhile is confident that the recent Lahore meeting by Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif and Narendra Modi would go a long way in building goodwill and the two countries would remain committed to a ‘sustained, meaningful and comprehensive dialogue process’.

The government also sent out a clear message that instead of blaming Pakistan, it had to be recognised that the “people of Pakistan have evolved a political consensus for action against all terrorists and terrorist organisations without any distinction."

The seriousness and urgency being displayed by the government to look into the alleged 'leads' provided by the Indian government in regard to the recent terrorist attack on the airbase in Pathankot can be judged by the second high-level meeting that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif held on Friday in which other matters regarding to terrorism in Pakistan and the region also came under discussion.

Friday's meeting comes just a day after the corps commanders conference in which the military leadership committed themselves to 'zero tolerance' to terrorist groups. The Foreign Office spokesman said the Friday’s meeting once again condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. “It was noted with satisfaction that Pakistan's counter-terrorism campaign had made significant gains and that Pakistan's entire leadership and institutions were working in complete harmony to counter terrorism and extremism.”