Pak accuses India of engaging in blame game over Pathankot

Pakistan today accused India of engaging in an "unhelpful" blame game over the Pathankot terror attack and said cooperation and understanding were needed to take the investigation forward.
During a weekly news briefing here, Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said, "Pakistan believes that all nations need to cooperate with each other to defeat the menace of terrorism. Pakistan condemned the (Pathankot) incident. Prime Minister called to assure cooperation."
Commenting on the Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's statement accusing Pakistan of the attack, he said, "Cooperation and understanding is the need of the hour. Blame game is unfortunate and unhelpful".
Parrikar on Tuesday told the Rajya Sabha that the terror attack on the air force base in Pathankot was carried out by Pakistan's "non-state actors" who operate with the support of the Pakistani establishment.

Zakaria said Pakistan took all necessary measures on the basis of preliminary information provided by India regarding Pathankot terrorist attack.
"A Joint Investigation Team has been formed and modalities are being worked out for the visit of the team to India."

To a question on the Foreign Secretary-level talks, the spokesperson said Pakistan and India are working on the dates for it.
When asked about Pakistan's reaction on the terror attack on the Indian Consulate in Jalalabad yesterday, Zakaria said, "Our position on terrorist attacks around the world is very clear. We condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. However, I don't have the details of the incident you are referring to."

On the 2008 Mumbai attack trial case, Zakaria said, "The Foreign Secretary had written to the Indian Foreign Secretary regarding evidence required for the Mumbai trials. These are those pieces of evidence, which Pakistan had asked for earlier also.
(Reopens FGN 19)
Responding to a question on remarks by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Adviser Sartaj Aziz that some Taliban leaders live in Pakistan, the spokesperson said, "You need to see things in their correct prospective. I will not comment on the Adviser's statement."
(Reopens DEL 89)
Swarup said Pakistan High Commission staffer Mehmood Akhtar, who was caught by police for espionage, had revealed to police sensitive information and investigators are working on it.

The MEA Spokesperson said root cause of the ties with Pakistan was cross border terrorism and Pakistan using it as a instrument of state policy which has failed.
He said India expelled only one Pakistani official but Islamabad on its own decided to withdraw six other officials from its High Commission here.
Asked whether Pakistan High Commission had approached Ministry of External Affairs when names of four of their officials went public, Swarup said he was not aware of it. He, however, referred to public statement by Pakistani side on the matter.
Replying to a question on attack on a section of people from Hindu community in Bangladesh, Swarup said the matter was taken up with the Bangladesh government which assured that it will ensure there safety.