Pakistan pledges to cooperate with Indian attack investigation

Pakistan’s prime minister and army chief pledged on Friday to cooperate fully with India on investigations into an attack on an Indian air base last week, as the fate of scheduled talks between the nuclear-armed neighbors remains uncertain.
The comments come a day after India called on Pakistani authorities for “prompt and decisive” action against militants it blames for the weekend attack that killed seven Indian military personnel and wounded 22.
Participants at a high-level meeting in Islamabad “reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to cooperate with India to completely eradicate the menace of terrorism,” Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s office said in a statement.
The meeting was also attended by Army Chief Raheel Sharif, the head of the military’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Rizwan Akhtar, and several top civilian and military officials.
India says it gave Pakistan “specific and actionable information” regarding the Pathankot air base attack on Tuesday.
In its statement, Sharif’s office said the meeting had reviewed the progress on the information received from India and would stay in touch with the Indian government.
A meeting between the two countries’ foreign secretaries was scheduled for Jan. 15, but it is unclear if it will go ahead.
A US State Department spokesman meanwhile said it was up to the Pakistan government to determine how long it would take to investigate the attack on the Pathankot air base following information provided by India.
Spokesman John Kirby 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,” Kirby said in response to a question at a regular briefing.
“Obviously, in all investigations, you want it to be thorough and you want it to be complete,” he added.
The statement comes as India on Thursday said it was awaiting Pakistan’s response on the information provided on the Pathankot incident, following which it will decide on the resumption of bilateral talks scheduled for later this month.
The fate of the bilatera talks rested on Pakistan’s response to the information, Indian government spokesman Vikas Swarup said on Thursday.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sharif have been struggling to keep their renewed dialogue, announced last month, on track in the wake of the attack.
Attempts to restart talks between India and Pakistan, who have fought three wars since becoming separate countries in 1947, have often been derailed by similar past attacks.
Pakistan’s leadership on Friday said it hoped “the two countries would remain committed to a sustained, meaningful and comprehensive dialogue process” in the wake of the attack.
Source: Arab News