Minister of state for external affairs V.K.
Minister of state for external affairs V.K. Singh on Thursday informed the Rajya Sabha that Pakistan has been clearly told that it should allow an Indian probe team to visit the country in connection with the Pathankot airbase attack as reciprocity was the principle on which Pakistan’s JIT was allowed to visit here.
He also insisted that the meeting between the foreign secretaries of the two countries here recently was “not formal talks”. The government’s response came after the Opposition attacked the government over its handling of the Pathankot issue.
Meanwhile, making it clear that the Indo-Pak foreign secretary (FS)-level meet on Tuesday was not part of the comprehensive dialogue, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) on Thursday said the two secretaries shared ideas to take forward the relationship. “It was not a meeting to finalise the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue (CBD). Ideas were exchanged on how to take forward the relationship, including the logical follow up of the Pakistan JIT and the ongoing investigation into the attack at Pathankot airbase. Both sides will reflect on those ideas. A relationship goes forward through such exchanges and let us remain hopeful,” MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.
Asked whether NIA would visit Pakistan to take the probe into Pathankot attack case to a logical conclusion, Mr Swarup said the two foreign secretaries had an “extensive discussion on probe into Pathankot attack and the JIT visit.”
“They had extensive discussions and they discussed about the logical next step that you are talking about,” he said when asked if the two foreign secretaries discussed a possible visit by NIA to Pakistan in connection with the Pathankot terror strike.
In Parliament on Thursday, the Opposition Congress also raised the Pathankot terror attack issue in the Lok Sabha and advised the Narendra Modi government to negotiate with Pakistan from a position of “strength” and not “emotions”.
Just before the House was to take up Question Hour, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan allowed Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia to raise the issue with a rider that it would not be politicised.
Amid opposition by treasury benches, Mr Scindia recalled that the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) from Pakistan had a member from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
Quoting a Pakistani media report, he said the JIT told the government there that “a drama was staged” to malign Pakistan and the Indian authorities did not cooperate with the team.
Meanwhile, Mr Singh stated in the Rajya Sabha that Indian high commissioner had conveyed formally to Pakistan foreign ministry that the terms of reference of the (JIT) visit are broadly agreed to with the proviso that they would be on the basis of reciprocity and followed in accordance with the extant legal provisions. He insisted that this has been “very clearly conveyed” to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Pakistan. Pakistan’s foreign secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, who met his Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar here on Tuesday for a “courtesy” meeting, was also conveyed this, Singh said.
“What appears in the newspapers, we are not concerned about it. So far as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan is concerned, it has not denied the reciprocity issue,” he said.
The Minister defended the bilateral engagements saying it was for the first time in the history that country had showed a “cooperative attitude” after a terror attack.
Seeking to allay apprehensions on Pakistani team’s probe regarding the Pathankot attack, Singh said the communication between the Pakistan’s JIT and the country’s NIA has happened in a “very professional manner” and their probe is identical. He said that the JIT has been given the same evidence which the NIA has on the attack.
However, dismissing the government reply on the issue, Deputy Leader of Congress Anand Sharma alleged that it “hides more than it reveals” and wanted to know what assurance was given by Pakistan to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that prompted him to suddenly visit that country to greet Nawaz Sharif on his birthday last year.
In the written reply, the MoS for External Affairs said the government is aware that after the return of Pakistan’s JIT, a segment of Pakistani’s media carried out “speculative” reports about the work of JIT in India.
He counter-pointed it with a press release issued by Pakistani Foreign Ministry later, which mentioned that “the visit of JIT to India had taken place in the context of the cooperartive approach being pursued by the government of Pakistan to effectively fight terrorism in all its forms.”
