The foreign secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan won’t happen till Pakistan acts against the Pathankot attack masterminds, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval said on Monday.
In an interview with NDTV, Doval said that India “will talk only if Pakistan takes action”. The secretary-level talks between the two countries were scheduled for January 15.
However, with NSA Ajit Doval on Monday denying another report that quoted him as saying that the foreign secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan have been canceled.
A report in Hindi daily, Dainik Bhaskar, quoted Ajit Doval saying, “As long as Pakistan doesn’t take action against those guilty of Pathankot attack and India is satisfied with Pakistan’s action on the issue, there won’t be any peace talks between the two countries. For now, India is cancelling the Indo-Pak secretary level meet, scheduled to be held on January 15.”
However, the NSA was quick to deny making such statements soon as the interview was published on Monday.
I do not remember giving any such interview: NSA Ajit Doval to ANI on Dainik Bhaskar report
— ANI (@ANI_news) January 11, 2016
Recently, Pakistan Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said that the scheduled talks between foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India is still intact. Aziz told reporters in Lahore that the two countries had agreed to hold talks on January 15. He said India has neither confirmed nor cancelled the scheduled meeting so far.
Last week, the foreign ministry had said that Pakistan must deliver “prompt and decisive action” on the evidence provided by India of the terror attack on January 2 at the air force base in Pathankot.
“The ball is in Pakistan’s court,” said Vikas Swarup, the spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry. “The Immediate issue is Pakistan’s response,” he said.
The attack in Pathankot came just a week after the PM Narendra Modi made an unscheduled visit to Pakistan and met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He has conveyed to Mr Sharif that India wants to see urgent action taken against those who conceived and executed the attack.
The evidence furnished by India includes intercepts of phone calls made by the six terrorists who attacked the base, to their handlers in Pakistan. Ammunition and other equipment recovered from them after they were killed were made in Pakistan.