Pathankot

Did NIA chief just let Pakistan off the Pathankot hook?

Security-Pathankot-Attack NIA chief Sharad Kumar has said that there was no evidence to indicate direct complicity of Pakistan in the Pathankot attack | Reuters
  • In a statement that stumped diplomats across the world, especially those from India, Kumar has said that there was no evidence to indicate direct complicity of Pakistan government or Pakistani agencies in the Pathankot attack.

The Director General of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Sharad Kumar, has given Pakistan its best defence so far in the Pathankot terror attack, of which it is accused by India of complicity.

In a statement that stumped diplomats across the world, especially those from India, Kumar has said that there was no evidence to indicate direct complicity of Pakistan government or Pakistani agencies in the Pathankot attack.

Usually it is either the minister of external affairs or its designated spokesperson who give out statements that are in the domain of foreign policy or of significance to national security.

In an interview to a news channel, Kumar also said it was entirely possible that Jaish-e-Mohammad—the Pakistan-based terror group India accuses of masterminding the Pathankot attack—could have been operating without the knowledge of the Pakistan government.

His statements come at a time when India, for the first time, has been able make Pakistan acknowledge the possibility of its agencies being involved in a terror plot in India. It filed an Fir and set up a five-member Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe the terror strike.

Following the militant raid, Pakistan had arrested Jaish-e-Mohammad head Maulana Masood Azhar and even promised to prosecute him if evidence connected him to the Pathankot raid.

Militants launched a deadly attack on an Indian Air Force base near the Pakistan border in Punjab on January 13. Four terrorists were killed and two security personnel were martyred in the gun battle.

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