Pakistan cooperated on terror attack for first time, says India

New Delhi, Apr 7: India on Thursday said that for the first time it received cooperation from Pakistan on a terror attack following the visit of the Pakistani Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the attack on the Pathankot airbase.

"For the first time, the government of India received cooperation from Pakistan in the form of a JIT visit in investigating a terrorist attack in India," external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said during his weekly media briefing here.

To a question on Pakistan's foreign ministry stating that witnesses belonging to the Indian security forces were not presented before the JIT, Swarup said the Pakistani probe team's visit from March 28 to April 1 "took place in the context of a cooperative approach".

The cross-border terrorist attack on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot on January 2 claimed the lives of seven Indian security personnel.

The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack, which has led to peace talks between the two countries being stalled.

India said it has sent "actionable evidence" to Pakistani authorities to bring the perpetrators of the attack to book.

Pakistan filed an FIR in Gujranwala in February against unknown terrorists in connection with the airbase attack.

The visit of the JIT is the latest step from the Pakistani side on the incident.

"The JIT visited the crime scene and recorded statements of some witnesses," Swarup said.

He also said that the visit of the JIT was according to the terms of reference agreed to by the two sides.

"I would say that the work of the JIT was as per the terms of reference which had been agreed between the two governments through their respective foreign offices," the spokesman said.

"They are on a reciprocal basis and in accordance with existing legal provisions," he said.

The spokesperson refused to comment on a Pakistan Today report that quoted sources in the JIT as saying that the Pathankot attack was "stage-managed" by India.

"The government does not react to speculative media reports. We go by what the Pakistan foreign ministry tells us," he added.

IANS