Pathankot probe: Has Pakistan forgotten to invite the NIA?

New Delhi, May 17: The pace at which Pakistan is probing the Pathankot attack does not exactly give anyone reason to believe that they are serious about it.

With absolutely no communication on the proposed date of visit by the National Investigation Agency, it is time to do a reality check on the matter.

After the Joint Investigation Team visited India from Pakistan, it was the turn of the NIA next. The NIA had stated that they hope to visit Pakistan soon in order to carry out the probe.

The NIA had also said that it had a lot to probe in Pakistan and would also want to question Jaish-e-Mohammad chief, Maulana Masood Azhar.

Has Pakistan forgotten:

The more one thinks about the visit by the JIT, it gives the impression that the entire exercise was a photo op. While the JIT members appeared to be nodding in agreement to whatever the NIA had told them, after their return, they did exactly as expected- deny everything.

However, things calmed down a bit and this even led to a meeting of the foreign secretaries in Delhi where Pakistan as expected raised the Kashmir issue. Both countries provided for an excellent photo session and later issued statements.

Among the many statements was one relating to the NIA's visit. The NIA has sent Letters Rogatory to Pakistan in which a formal request was made to visit Pakistan. However there has not been any response from Pakistan till date.

This has led the NIA to write to the Ministry of External Affairs to remind Pakistan about the visit.

Let us be realistic:

There is no harm in India asking Pakistan to provide access to several persons with regard to the probe.

The NIA has asked to question Maulana Masood Azhar among other top terrorists of the Jaish-e-Mohammad. However, none are confident that access to these persons will ever be given.
For starters Pakistan does not consider Azhar to be an accused in this case.

At the very start of the probe Pakistan claimed that it had acted against Azhar. However, it turned out to be a protective detention.

The NIA can now only hope that it would get a date to visit Pakistan and collect as much evidence as possible if anything is remaining. For this the matter is being pushed through diplomatic channels.

OneIndia News