Pak JIT visit was based on principle of reciprocity: Govt

NEW DELHI:  Pakistan has been clearly told that it should allow an Indian probe team to visit that country in connection with Pathankot terror attack as reciprocity was the principle on which Pakistan’s JIT was allowed to visit here, government told the Rajya Sabha today.

Minister of State for External Affairs Gen V K Singh also insisted that the meeting between the Foreign Secretaries of the two countries here recently was “no formal talks”.

Singh’s response came after opposition members attacked the government over its handling of Pathankot issue and questioned whether NIA will be allowed to visit Pakistan since its JIT (Joint Investigation Team) already came here in connection with Pathankot terror attack probe.

The members also questioned whether India will be allowed access to interrogate Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar in connection with the terror attack.

“So far as we are concerned, our High Commissioner had conveyed formally to Pakistan Foreign Ministry that the terms of reference of the (JIT) visit are broadly agreed to with the proviso that they would be on the basis of reciprocity and followed in accordance with the extant legal provisions,” the Minister said in his reply.

He insisted that this has been “very clearly conveyed” to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Pakistan.

Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, who met his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar here on Tuesday for a “courtesy” meeting, was also conveyed this, Singh said.

“It was conveyed to the Foreign Secretary of Pakistan, when he unofficially on a courtesy visit, met our our Foreign Secretary here that they have to look into our NIA visiting Pakistan. He has to go back and take a formal view and convey to us,” he said.

“…What appears in the newspapers, we are not concerned about it. So far as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan is concerned, it has not denied the reciprocity issue,” he said.(Agencies)

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