New Delhi: Praising Indian Prime Minister's gesture towards his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif at Paris climate summit and Narendra Modi's surprise stop-over at Lahore, Pakistan's National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz said 'Modi-Nawaz have real affection for each other.'
Aziz said, ''PM Modi's willingness to improve relations with Pakistan is visible.''
''Modi-Nawaz have real affection for each other. PM Modi's Lahore stopover was highly appreciated in Pakistan,'' he added.
The two Prime Ministers should not allow derailment of the talks by non-state actors, he said, adding Modi's visit to Lahore on December 25 last year was "very well received".
Favouring resumption of comprehensive bilateral talks as soon as possible, he said India has been held hostage to the "narrative of terrorism" which was unfortunate. He noted that the importance of dialogue is growing by the day.
Further talking about Siachen, Aziz, the adviser on foreign affairs to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said Pakistan was for withdrawal of forces by the two sides and has put forth its proposal before India again and claimed both sides were close to an agreement for many years.
''India and Pak can vacate Siachen on mutual understanding, we can revise the proposal. India-Pak NSAs are in regular touch,'' he said.
On Pakistan's SIT's visit to India, Aziz said the team will go "as soon as possible", maybe during the first few days of March. He said Pakistan was examining all the evidences including the phone numbers given by India in Pathankot attack case and that the NSAs of the two countries are in regular touch.
Aziz further said during an interview with IndiaToday that Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar was taken into “protective custody” after the assault on Pathankot airbase and one of the mobile phone numbers linked to the attackers was traced to the terror group’s headquarters.
Azhar was placed in custody “a few days after” the attack, said Aziz and rejected India’s charge that Pakistan had taken no action over the January 2 attack that killed seven people.
On Friday, Pakistani authorities registered a First Information Report in connection with the Pathankot attack, which India has blamed on the JeM and its chief. The FIR, however, made no mention of the JeM or Azhar, who allegedly masterminded the strike.
The FIR mentions five Pakistani mobile phone numbers that were called by the attackers from the Indian side.
