In a firm response to Pakistan, India on Tuesday sought immediate action against Masood Azhar, the chief of terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, reported NDTV. Azhar has been the key conspirator of JeM's attack on the Pathankot air force base in January.
India-Pakistan talks at the foreign secretary level, which was scheduled to be held in January, was postponed due to the attack then. The attack on Indian soil that killed seven military personnel had led to a diplomatic row.
A statement from India said that India's foreign secretary S Jaishankar "clearly conveyed that Pakistan cannot be in denial on the impact of terrorism on the bilateral relationship." It accused Pakistan of prompting China to use its veto power to block an Indian request to declare Azhar as a terrorist by the UN sanctions committee.
In a response, Pakistan stated that Jammu and Kashmir was "a core issue that requires a just solution". It added that Kulbhushan Jadhav, a former naval officer and an agent of intel agency RAW, has confessed to instigating the separatist movement in the volatile province of Balochistan. It also added that he was found with a valid Indian passport issued in a fake name and with a visa for Iran.
However, Jaishankar rebutted as "Which spy agency would put their agent in the field with their own passport, and without a visa?"
NDTV reports that today's foreign secretary level meet was scheduled on the sidelines of a regional summit in Delhi about Afghanistan. It added that Pakistan in an undiplomatic move also spurned a basic protocol during the high-level talks by releasing a statement before the dialogue could formally come to a close.
