Sending another message to Pakistan to act strongly on Pathankot terrorists, Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar Wednesday said that the Jan. 2 terror attack was priority for the government over India-Pakistan dialogue. India sent letters to Pakistan seeking details about the Pathankot attackers Wednesday.
"In the aftermath of a terror attack, if you ask me what is the priority, dealing with terror or diplomatic dialogue then the answer is obvious," Jaishankar said at the Raisina Dialogue in Delhi, an initiative of the Ministry of External Affairs, according to the Press Trust of India. However, the official added that India and Pakistan were "in touch' through the national security advisors on both sides.
Scheduled talks between India and Pakistan were pushed forward following the Pathankot terror attack and are yet to be rescheduled.
"Most people in this country wants to treat Pakistan as a normal neighbour. So we would like to do with Pakistan what we do with everybody else. But the fact is that there are obstacles and we know what the obstacles are," Jaishankar said.
Indian authorities have accused Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar of perpetrating the terror attack at the Pathankot airforce base that left seven Indian security personnel dead.
On Tuesday, Pakistani Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz hinted that Azhar may be made available to Indian authorities for interrogation, but after Pakistan probes the case.
"First of all, we have to investigate ourselves and (find out) what it is... if he (Masood) does something (wrong) we would move against (him)," Aziz said at a meeting with the Defense Writers Group during his United States visit.
A special investigation team from Pakistan is set to arrive in India to visit the Pathankot air force base as pert of the investigation.
