New Delhi: With Pakistan envoy Abdul Basit ruling a visit by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) of India to Pakistan to probe the Pathankot airbase terror attack, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Intelligence Bureau Syed Asif Ibrahim on Friday met Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
Pakistan on Thursday said the bilateral peace process stands 'suspended' and indicated that NIA team may not be allowed to visit Islamabad for the Pathankot attack probe.
Countering the Pakistan High Commissioner's assertion that the visit by Pakistani JIT was not on reciprocity, India today said before the team's visit here, both sides had agreed that it would be on the basis of reciprocity.
“We have seen comments by the Pakistani high commissioner on the visit of the JIT team to investigate the terrorist attack on the Pathankot airbase that have reference to reciprocity,” the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.
After a team of Pakistani officials visited Pathankot to probe Indian charges that Pakistani terrorists were to blame for the terror attack, New Delhi had expected Islamabad to allow a National Investigation Agency (NIA) team to visit that country to take the investigation forward.
But, addressing a press conference here, Basit ruled out the possibility.
Foreign secretary-level talks between the two countries scheduled for the middle of January this year, were derailed following the January 2 cross-border attack on the Pathankot Indian Air Force base in which seven Indian security personnel were killed.
The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad claimed responsibility for the attack in which the six attackers were also reportedly killed.
