Taking a firm stand with Islamabad over the Uri attack, India on Wednesday summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit and reminded him of the commitment made by the neighbouring nation in January 2004 to not allow its soil be used for terrorism against India, adding that the 'persistent and growing violation' of this undertaking is a matter of serious concern.
"The latest terrorist attack in Uri only underlines, that the infrastructure of terrorism in Pakistan remains active. We demand that Pakistan lives up to its public commitment to refrain from supporting and sponsoring terrorism against India," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in a statement.
Asserting that 2016, began with the Pathankot Airbase attack, he added that there have been continuous attempts by armed terrorists to cross the LoC (Line of Control) and the international boundary in order to carry out attacks in India.
Swarup stated that 17 such attempts have been foiled at or around the LoC resulting in the elimination of 31 terrorists and preventing their intended acts of terrorism.
"The Foreign Secretary also reminded the Pakistan High Commissioner that even as he spoke, two engagements at the LoC were ongoing," he said.
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Displaying a list of proofs nailing Pakistan's involvement in the recent terror attack, Swarup emphasised that a number of items that include:
1. GPS from the bodies of terrorists with coordinates that indicate the point and time of infiltration across the LoC and the subsequent route to the terror attack site.
2. Grenades with Pakistani markings.
3. Communication matrix sheets
4. Communication equipment
5. Other stores made in Pakistan, including food, medicines and clothes.
Calling on the Pakistan government to take active involvement into the investigation of the attacks, the MEA spokesperson said that is Islamabad wishes to investigate these cross border attacks, India is ready to provide fingerprints and DNA samples of those terrorists killed in the Uri and Poonch incidents.
Following this diplomatic volley, India now awaits for a response from the government of Pakistan.
Earlier, Director General of Military operation Lt. General Ranbir Singh had stated that the four terrorists, who attacked the military base in Uri, belonged to Pakistan's banned terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
Following the tragedy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had strongly condemned the "cowardly terror attack" and assured the nation that those behind the "despicable attack" will not go unpunished.
Sources state that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will strongly emphasize Pakistan's involvement in the attack during her UNGA speech on September 26.
Pakistan has, however, flatly rejected New Delhi's claims of involvement in the Uri terror attack, stating that the latter has a traditional tendency to point fingers at the former whenever a terror attack takes place on Indian soil.
Meanwhile, the National investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing the terror attack in Uri Sector of Jammu and Kashmir, will be seeking the help of the Army, Intelligence Bureau and RAW to get identities of the terrorists verified.
The agencies will be asked to provide the NIA with intercepts of the last two to four months in the region.
As per sources, Kashif Jaan, who had escorted the Pathankot terrorists till the border, could also have been the handler of the slain terrorists in Uri.
The NIA sources say that the Uri attack may have been masterminded by Kashif Jaan, Rauf Asgar and Masood Azha.
The NIA yesterday filed an FIR in the Uri terror strike case and a six-member team will soon visit the site of the attack to collect the evidence in the matter.
According to sources, NIA will collect the blood samples and finger prints of the four killed terrorists in Uri.
The Army is set to handover all items recovered from the killed terrorists including weapons, navigation maps to the NIA for further investigation.
The NIA will also send the GPS and icon satellite set to the United States for forensic investigation to find out what route the terrorists chose and when and how they entered Indian territory.
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