Indo-Pak talks unlikely this week

The Indo-Pak foreign secretary-level talks appear to be unlikely this week with India taking the stand that Pakistan has to act on the leads given to it about the terror attack on the Pathankot airbase.

Sartaj Aziz, foreign policy adviser to the Pakistan prime minister, has said that the foreign secretary talks would be held on January 15 but National Security Adviser Ajit Doval was quoted as having said that talks can be held only after action, a stand from which he has distanced himself later.

Reports from Pakistan on Monday claimed that law enforcement agencies have picked up ‘some suspects’ connected to Pathankot airbase attack from Bahwalapur district, the hometown of Maulana Masood Azhar, chief of banned terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed.

Pakistani news channel ARY News reported on Monday that 'some arrests' have been made in this regard but police did not confirm any arrest related to the Pathankot attack.

Although there has been no official word so far, it is unlikely that Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar would travel to Islamabd as planned this Thursday for talks with his Pakistani counterpart for the comprehensive bilateral dialogue agreed to between the two countries when External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj visited Pakistan last month.

Swaraj on Monday visited Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s residence and is understood to have discussed the issue during a meeting that lasted about 20 minutes.

But there was no official word on the meeting.

Meanwhile, the Congress attacked the government over the 'uncertainty' on the FS-level talks, saying foreign policy is not conducted in such a way.

Party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said no less a person than Doval has ‘further compounded and confounded the confusion’ that seems to have become this government’s 'hallmark' as far as dealing with extremely serious and sensitive issues of national security are concerned.

He said the NSA was reported to have told a newspaper in an interview that there would be 'no peace talks now till Pakistan takes action against Pathankot terrorists and India is satisfied with Pakistan's efforts' and then denied the entire interview.