NEW DELHI: India has provided Pakistan ‘actionable intelligence’ on the Pathankot airbase terrorist attack, and is awaiting ‘prompt and decisive action’ from the Pakistani government, a spokesman for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said Thursday.
But MEA spokesman Vikas Swarup stopped short of confirming whether or not a planned meeting between the foreign secretaries of the two neighboring countries would take place later this month.
“The (Indian) government’s Pakistan policy is clear and consistent. India wants friendly relations with all its neighbors including Pakistan. We have extended a hand of friendship to Pakistan but we will not countenance cross-border terrorist attacks,” Swarup told reporters at a press conference in New Delhi.
He said that the decision to restart a comprehensive bilateral dialogue between the two countries was taken after the national security advisers met in Bangkok and discussed “terrorism, peace and security, and tranquility along the Line of Control”.
But the “terrorist attack on the Pathankot airbase has once again put renewed focus on the challenge posed by cross-border terrorism,” he said.
“The ball is now in Pakistan’s court. The immediate issue in front of us is Pakistan’s response to the terrorist attack and the actionable intelligence that has been provided (to them),” he said.
Swarup said that, in a telephone conversation earlier this week, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had promised his Indian counterpart that “prompt and decisive action” would be taken on the information provided by India.
“Actionable intelligence in regard to the terrorist attack and the links with the perpetrators in Pakistan was provided to the Pakistani side. The Pakistani prime minister promised us prompt and decisive action,” he said. “We now await that prompt and decisive action.”
