Pathankot attack probe being completed, Pakistan tells Britain

Islamabad, March 8 (IANS) Pakistan's Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz here on Tuesday assured British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond that a joint investigation team is in the process of completing its probe into the Indian airbase terror attack.

“The team will visit India in the next few days and hopefully then a meeting between the foreign secretaries of the two countries will take place. The Indian High Commissioner himself stated that foreign secretaries’ meeting is not linked to the Pathankot investigation,” the prime minister's senior aide said.

New Delhi previously accused Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad of masterminding the attack which left seven Indian security officials and one civilian dead and avoided pointing fingers at Pakistan or its institutions.

However, India’s Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar told the country’s parliament that the deadly assault could not have been carried out without "state support".

Aziz also confirmed to Hammond that the government shared intelligence with New Delhi about possible terror attacks in India.

“Sharing of intelligence among various nations of the world is a routine practice and this happens around the world. However, this time it was somehow leaked to media. But this showed Pakistan’s commitment to fight terrorism,” Aziz said.