As the Opposition tried to the corner the Government in Parliament on Thursday on Pathankot airbase terror attack probe, the Centre said Pakistan was “clearly” told that it should allow an Indian Investigating team to visit that country as reciprocity was the principle on which Pakistan’s investigation team was allowed to come here to probe the case.
Making this assertion in the Rajya Sabha when members from the Samajwadi Party and the Congress expressed reservations over the Government’s handling of the situation in the aftermath of the terror attack in January, Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh said issue of reciprocity was “clearly conveyed” when Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry came here on Tuesday.
“It was conveyed to the Foreign Secretary of Pakistan, when he unofficially on a courtesy visit, met our our Foreign Secretary here that they have to look into our National Investigation Agency visiting Pakistan. He has to go back and take a formal view and convey to us,” he said. Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and Chaudhry met here on Tuesday on the sidelines of a regional conference.
Reacting to news reports that Islamabad has rejected NIA visit, Singh said, “What appears in the newspapers, we are not concerned about it. So far as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan is concerned, it has not denied the reciprocity issue.” The Minister also insisted that the meeting of the two Foreign Secretaries was “not formal.”
Opposition members also questioned whether India will be allowed access to interrogate Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar in connection with the terror attack.
Singh said Indian High Commissioner to Islamabad had conveyed formally to Pakistan Foreign Ministry that the terms of reference of the (JIT) visit are broadly agreed to with the proviso that they would be on the basis of reciprocity and followed in accordance with the extant legal provisions.
Responding about discussions between the two leaders in Ufa, Russia last year, Singh said the centrality of terrorism emanating from Pakistan or from areas controlled by Pakistan was stressed and it was the assurance given by the Prime Minister of Pakistan to his Indian counterpart that led to a number of decisions taken by India to improve relations with Pakistan.