The government will take a view on the talks between India and Pakistan after the operations at the Pathankot air base are over, said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. "Let the operation get over then the government will take a view," Jaitley told ANI when asked if Indo-Pak talks will be affected in the wake of the Pathankot attack. Lauding the valour efforts of the security personnel who sacrificed their lives defending the Pathankot air base, Jaitley said the main aim of the well-trained terrorists was to harm strategic assets.
Jaitley added that the attack at Pathankot was done by a suicide squad. The Finance Minister emphasised that the lessons learnt from the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks helped the security personnel at Pathankot. "A lot has been learnt from the Mumbai attacks, this led our security forces to stop the terrorists at the entrance and keep them at distance from our strategic assets," he said.
The Foreign Secretary-level talks with Pakistan scheduled for later this month looks in serious jeopardy if evidence emerges that Pakistan's state actors were complicit in the attack on Pathankot air base.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier reviewed the situation arising out of the terror attack at Pathankot's air base. Soon after his return from Karnataka last night, he chaired a meeting of top officials including National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had on Sunday held meetings with former Indian envoys to Pakistan to discuss the way forward in wake of the Pathankot attack. Meanwhile, encounter and combing operation is going on inside the Pathankot air base.
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