India on Friday said it has “carefully noted” Pakistan Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz’s remarks on detention of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar and the issue will be discussed when the Pakistani investigation team visits the country in connection with the Pathankot terror attack.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said India was awaiting a firm proposal from Pakistan on “dates and composition” of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) and only after that security agencies would decided what all places would be visited by the team when asked about Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar’s comments that the SIT would not be allowed to visit Pathankot air base, the site of the attack.
“We have carefully noted the comments made (by Aziz) on Maulana Masood Azhar. I think it will be a subject of discussion once the SIT visits India,” Swarup said but did not give a direct reply on whether Pakistan has officially informed India about the JeM chief.
On the status of Indo-Pak foreign secretary-level talks, the spokesperson merely repeated, “foreign secretaries are in touch and there are no further developments.”
Asked about continued cross-border terrorism and arrest of six JeM militants, including a Pakistani in Jammu and Kashmir, Swarup said India had been repeatedly raising the issue with Pakistan and was a matter of discussion between the two national security advisers.
The spokesperson also rejected the allegation that Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit was not given permission to visit Chennai to attend a function, saying on February 12 the permission was given to the high commissioner, his wife and an official of the Pakistan High Commission to visit Chennai on February 22.
