New Delhi: Amid reports that the upcoming peace talks between India and Pakistan have been called off, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on Monday denied any such development.
A report in Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar on Monday quoted Ajit Doval as saying in an exclusive interview, "As long as Pakistan doesn't take action against those guilty of Pathankot attack and India is satisfied with Pakistan's action on the issue, there won't be any peace talks between the two countries. For now, India is cancelling the Indo-Pak secretary level meet, scheduled to be held on January 15."
However, shortly after the interview was published, Doval denied making any such remark.
"I do not remember giving any such interview, Doval told ANI on the Dainik Bhaskar interview.
I do not remember giving any such interview: NSA Ajit Doval to ANI on Dainik Bhaskar report
— ANI (@ANI_news) January 11, 2016
Doval separately told NDTV that he has not said the talks have been cancelled.
He added that dates for the foreign secretary-level talks have not been fixed and that talks will only happen if Pakistan takes action against perpetrators of the Pathankot airbase terror attack.
Pakistan Foreign Ministry had earlier confirmed that India had shared evidence with them and Islamabad is working on the leads provided by the Indian government.
Pakistan Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz had recently said that the scheduled talks between foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India are still intact. Aziz told reporters in Lahore that the two countries had agreed to hold talks on January 15. He said India has neither confirmed nor cancelled the scheduled meeting so far.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has also assured that Islamabad is swiftly carrying out investigations in a transparent manner and will bring out the truth.
The January 2 early morning attack on Pathankot airbase came just a week after the PM Narendra Modi made an unscheduled visit to Lahore while returning from Afghanistan and met his counterpart Nawaz Sharif. After the terror attack, Modi conveyed to Sharif that India wants to see urgent action taken against those who conceived and executed the terror plot.
The evidence furnished by India includes intercepts of several phone calls made by the six terrorists during the Pathankot airbase attack, to their handlers in Pakistan. Ammunition and other equipment recovered by security forces from the dead bodies of terrorists were also Pakistan-made.
