Pakistan arrests several JeM members, may send investigators to India, reports

#Islamabad / #Lahore : #Pakistan said on Wednesday it wants to send a special investigation team to India to probe the Pathankot attack, for which an unspecified number of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) operatives have been apprehended.

Following a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the government announced it had also begun tracing and sealing the offices of the JeM. The group was banned in 2002 but continues to be active in several parts of Pakistan, including Punjab province and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Pakistan was apparently spurred to act following pressure from the US and India. The JeM has been blamed by Indian authorities for the brazen assault on Pathankot airbase, which killed seven security personnel. India had sought “prompt and decisive action” by Pakistan on actionable intelligence regarding the attack.

The Pakistani action also appeared to be aimed at salvaging a planned meeting of the foreign secretaries on January 15. India has linked the talks to action against the perpetrators of the Pathankot attack.

The meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sharif, which was also attended by army chief Gen Raheel Sharif and ISI chief Lt Gen Rizwan Akhtar, noted that “considerable progress” had been made in the investigation against terrorist elements reportedly linked to the Pathankot incident.

“In the spirit of the cooperative approach, it was also decided that in order to carry the process forward, additional information would be required, for which the government of Pakistan is considering to send a Special Investigation Team to Pathankot, in consultation with the government of India,” said a statement from the Pakistani Prime Minister’s #NawazSharif  House. by Agencies.