Allowing Pakistanis into Pathankot political decision: IAF chief

Jamnagar, March 4: The decision to allow a probe team from Pakistan into the Pathankot IAF base will be a “political decision”, Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha said on Friday. The IAF, he said, wants a “closure” to the terror attack in January with action taken against the perpetrators.

Asked if the IAF will have any problem on allowing the Pakistani team into the base, he said: “If government allows the team, why should we object?

“Whether to permit or not to permit (them) into the Pathankot base will be a political decision. I will not comment on it. But we need to pursue this so that there is some outcome,” he told the media here.

“We want a closure of the case with appropriate action against those who attacked the base,” he added. The January 2 terror attack on the IAF base at Pathankot in Punjab left seven security personnel dead. Security forces killed all six terrorists involved in the attack. All of them were said to be from Pakistan.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s foreign affairs advisor Sartaj Aziz said on Wednesday that the probe team may visit India in the next few days. (IANS)