Indian envoy to Pakistan says Foreign Secretary-level talks not linked to Pathankot attack probe

Islamabad: India and Pakistan may hold Foreign Secretary-level talks in the near future as against speculation of return of chill in bilateral ties.

Gautam Bambawaly, India's High Commissioner to Pakistan, said on Monday that the talks between the Foreign Secretaries of the two countries were not conditional to the probe into Pathankot airbase terror attack.

In fact, the two governments are in contact to decide on Foreign Secretary-level talks, Dawn online reported.

"I can not give any particular date for the Secretary-level talks but Foreign Secretaries from both countries are in constant contact," Bambawaly said, as per the report.

The remarks came amid speculation that the Indo-Pak talks were going off the track yet again in the wake of the Pathankot terror attack.

Analysts had said that there was less likelihood of the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue (CBD), agreed upon last year by the two countries, starting/resuming anytime soon.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surprise visit to Pakistan on Christmas day last December had earlier raised hopes of improvement in bilateral ties that had hit an all-time low post 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

In the attack on the airbase on January 2, India lost seven security personnel and blamed the Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) for it.

New Delhi had linked the resumption of the Foreign Secretary-level talks to action by Pakistan against JeM.