Pathankot attack: Pak probe team to arrive on March 27, says Sushma

Pokhara (Nepal): A Joint Investigation Team (JIT) looking into the Pathankot terror attack is scheduled to visit from March 27 said External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj here on Thursday.

Addressing a brief joint press conference after a meeting with Sartaz Aziz, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Advisor on Foreign Affairs, on the sidelines of the SAARC Council of Ministers meeting here, Swaraj said: "is it possible that when Sartaj Saheb and I meet, the Pathankot issue will not figure? Yes, we talked about the Pathankot issue as well. The Pakistan's JIT will arrive in India on the night of March 27, and will start functioning the very next day (March 28)."

Elaborating upon the SAARC Council of Ministers' meeting, the minister said, "This year's SAARC meeting was entirely different from the past meetings. The meeting took place in a very congenial environment and we addressed some of the nagging issues, especially between India and Pakistan, with an open mind."

Aziz, too, said that the basic purpose of his meeting with Swaraj was to extend formal invitation to the Prime Minister of India for the SAARC summit to be held in Islamabad on November 9 and 10.

"She thanked us and hoped that the SAARC Summit would be successfully. We also held discussion on agendas taken up by the SAARC meeting, and ways to make the summit a success," he said.

"As she said, we discussed all pending issues in congenial environment, which also won plaudits of Nepal Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Kamal Thapa," said Aziz.

Elaborating on the dialogue process, he said, "You know that after Prime Minister Modi and Nawaz Sharif Saheb met in Paris on November 30 last, the National Security Advisors of both the countries met in Bangkok. Three days after the NSAs meeting, Sushma ji visited Islamabad. On November 9, we decided that both the nations would kick start the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue.

"Thereafter, on December 25, Prime Minister Modi came to Lahore to extend his wishes to Nawaz Sharif Saheb. The process was going on well until the Pathankot terror attack happened, which affected the dialogue process."

"But the way the Pathankot issue was handled by Pakistan, and now a JIT is also going, it will have good results," said Aziz, while praising the action taken by the Pakistan Government in this connection.

Aziz further said, "On March 31, both the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan are going to Washington, and it is expected that they would meet there. I have no idea whether it will be a structured dialogue, but the meeting would definitely give the much needed momentum to the dialogue process."