Pak Pathankot JIT to arrive in India on March 27: Swaraj

A Pakistani Joint Investigation Team will arrive in India on March 27 to carry forward its probe into the Pathankot terror attack, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj announced here today.
The announcement came after Swaraj's 20-minute meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, who hoped that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Premier Nawaz Sharif will meet in the US on March 31 on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit.
"It is not possible that Pathankot be not discussed in my meeting with Sartaj Aziz...The date for JIT visit has been decided. It will arrive on (March) 27th night and will begin their work on March 28," Swaraj said addressing the media with Aziz after the two leaders held talks on the sidelines of the SAARC ministerial meeting.

Aziz, on his part, expressed satisfaction over the way the Pathankot incident was handled on both sides. He hoped that Sharif and Modi will meet in the US.
"Not sure whether there will be a structured dialogue but hopeful that they will meet," Aziz said.
Aziz also handed over an invitation to Swaraj for Prime Minister Modi to attend the SAARC Summit hosted by Pakistan on November 9 and 10.

Swaraj said she has accepted the invitation on behalf of the Prime Minister and thanked Sharif and Aziz for it.
Noting that India has faced a number of cross-border
infiltrations and attacks, Jaishankar said during one such assault a Pakistani terrorist was also caught, clearly showing the neighbour's involvement.

Earlier, while rejecting Pakistan's offer for talks on Kashmir, government sources said that since aspects related to cross-border terrorism are central to the current situation in J&K, India has proposed that discussions between the Foreign Secretaries be focused on them.
"We have also conveyed that Government of India rejects in their entirety the self-serving allegations regarding the situation in J&K, which is an integral part of India where Pakistan has no locus standi," the sources added.
Pakistan had on Monday invited India for talks on Kashmir, saying it is the "international obligation" of both the countries to resolve the issue.

The invitation was extended amid tension in bilateral ties due to the war of words between the two nations over the continuing unrest in Kashmir.
India and Pakistan have been engaged in a war of words over the statements by Islamabad on the situation in Kashmir which is witnessing a turmoil following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani last month.
Wani was hailed as a martyr by Pakistan, which also tried to internationalise the Kashmir issue with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the country's foreign office writing to a host of countries besides the United Nations, while India has been maintaining that Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in the Valley is the root cause of the turbulence.