Pakistan's civilian and military leadership has condemned the Pathankot attack, for the first time, following a terror strike in India and also promised full cooperation with New Delhi, in eradicating the menace of terrorism from the region, a denunciation that would be reassuring for South Block.
Chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and attended by the Army chief, General Raheel Sharif, ISI chief, Lt Gen Rizwan Akhtar, DG Military Operations, National Security Advisor, Minister for Interior and Advisor to PM on Foreign Affairs, a meeting was conducted yesterday, and the decision was taken in the same meeting.
A statement issued by PM Sharif's office reads, “The meeting discussed the Pathankot attack, expressed condemnation of this incident, and reiterated the country's commitment to cooperate with India to completely eradicate the menace of terrorism afflicting our region.”
The condemnation will be heartening for both, national security advisor Ajit Doval and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who scripted a stunning turnaround in relations, after they received assurance from the Pakistan government.
After Doval met Lt Gen Naseer Janjua in Bangkok, the breakthrough has come into light. Their meeting convinced India that, it was the right time to not just seek engagement with Pakistan over terror, but also agree to Islamabad's demand that, the composite dialogue process be resumed.
Modi then sanctified the whole process with his pit stop in Lahore, where the two Prime Ministers asked their foreign secretaries to meet in this month, to work out the modalities for the comprehensive bilateral dialogue, as announced in Islamabad.
The meeting further said that, after the confidence built on the goodwill generated by the recent high level contacts, the two countries - India and Pakistan, would remain committed to a sustained and comprehensive dialogue process.
The statement said, “It was noted 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.”
“The people of Pakistan have resolved that, no terrorist would be allowed to use Pakistan's soil for committing terrorism,” the statement further said.
However, a few of the quarters in Pakistan, expressed fears that, the foreign secretary-level talks slated in the next week, might be put off for a few days by the Indian side, if it was not satisfied with the outcome of the investigation leads provided to Islamabad through diplomatic channels.
In his recent telephonic conversation with Modi, Sharif had promised complete cooperation to New Delhi, over alleged linkages of the terrorists with some elements, on this side of the border.
Recently, Sartaj Aziz, PM advisor on foreign affairs, said that, on January 15, the foreign secretaries of the two countries will meet in Islamabad.
During the meeting in Islamabad, the foreign secretaries would discuss modalities for the comprehensive bilateral dialogue and its timeframe, Aziz told in Parliament, in response to a written question.
Explaining in detail, Aziz said, “The comprehensive dialogue will include all outstanding issues, including the Jammu & Kashmir dispute, as stated in the joint statement issued during Indian external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj's visit to Pakistan,” Aziz said.
By Phani Ch
