India should clear its stand on FS level talks: JD (U)

Reacting to the reported detention of Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar in the Pathankot terrorist attack, Janata Dal (United) leader K.C. Tyagi on Thursday said India should clear its stand on Foreign Secretary level talks, only after Pakistan clarifies whether the arrest of Azhar is temporary or permanent.

"There has been no announcement from the Pakistan Government whether the arrest of Maulana Massood Azhar was temporary or permanent. Detaining and sending to jail are two different things. The Pakistan Government should clear its stand and after that only India should clear its stand on Foreign Secretary level talks," Tyagi told ANI.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) late on Wednesday evening said there was no official confirmation from Islamabad on the arrest of Masood Azhar.

"We have no official confirmation on the arrest of JeM chief Masood Azhar. We have seen the press release that has been put out by the Pakistani side, but we have no official confirmation on the arrest," said Vikas Swarup, MEA Official Spokesperson,

Earlier, Pakistan media reported that Masood Azhar had been detained.

The Pakistan Government on Wednesday said it had arrested several members of the Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group, which is suspected of being behind the Pathankot Air Base attack earlier this month.

The Pakistan PMO in a statement said the government had made "considerable progress" in investigating the attack, and it wanted to send a team of special investigators to the Pathankot Air Base.

"Based on the initial investigations in Pakistan, and the information provided, several individuals belonging to JeM have been apprehended," the office of Prime Minister Sharif said.

"The offices of the organisation are also being traced and sealed. Further investigations are underway," it said.

The statement was released after Prime Minister Sharif chaired a high-level civil-military meeting in Islamabad to discuss the regional security situation and the investigation into the Pathankot airbase terrorist attack.

The meeting was attended by attended by top civilian and military leaders, including Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif, Director-General (DG) Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lieutenant General Rizwan Akhtar, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, PM's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif, and other senior officials.