JIT briefed NIA on progress of investigations in Pakistan, says MoFA

Islamabad: The Pakistani Joint Investigation Team (JIT), which visited India from March 27 to April 1 for investigating the allegations regarding the attack on Pathankot Airbase, briefed the NIA on progress of investigations in Pakistan, said a statement issued by the office of spokesperson of the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) on Wednesday.

It said the visit of the JIT to India, which took place in the context of the cooperative approach being pursued by the Government of Pakistan as part of its commitment to effectively fight terrorism in all its forms, started with a presentation given by the Indian National Investigation Agency (NIA) regarding its investigations so far.

Thereafter, the JIT visited the crime scene and also recorded the statements of some witnesses. However, the witnesses belonging to the Indian security forces were not produced before it, it said.

Further investigations are underway.

However, earlier a report published in Pakistan Today claimed that the JIT had concluded that the Pathankot terror attack was staged by India to spread “vicious propaganda” against Pakistan, is a total concoction.

The Pakistan JIT is set to give its report to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Sources told Pakistan Today that the JIT has slammed India over its claims of a Pakistani hand in the attack, saying that New Delhi continues to expand its propaganda “without having any solid evidence to back the claim”.

The report also claims that the Indian Government did not cooperate with the JIT, but instead made efforts to hinder the probe.

The JIT had examined 13 witnesses, including former Gurdaspur Superintendent of Police Salwinder Singh.

Pakistani terrorists attacked the Pathankot Air Force Station in January this year, in which four attackers and two security forces personnel were killed in the gun battle, with an additional security force member dying from injuries hours later. (ANI)