NSA Janjua feeds intelligence to NSA Doval: Delhi, Gujarat, metros on high security alert.
New Delhi: In a marked change of texture of India-Pakistan relations, an intelligence warning has been received from Islamabad about ten militants belonging to the LeT and JeM sneaking into Gujarat. Acting on this input, the government rushed the National Security Guard Commandos to the state and cancelled a cultural festival at the Somnath temple that was to be attended by millions of pilgrims. Even the national capital has been put on high alert.
Official sources indicated that Pakistani national security adviser Naseer Khan Janjua shared the intelligence inputs with his Indian counterpart, Ajit Doval. This is a marked departure from the not so distant past when Islamabad used to be in denial mode about the involvement of any of its citizens even after an terror attack had taken place with Pakistani imprint written all over it.
Terror alert in Guj: Security heightened, raids in Kutch
The inputs came after a Border Security Force patrolling team recovered an abandoned boat – allegedly from Pakistan — off Koteshwar coast in Kutch on Friday. The abandoned boat in question was 20 feet long and 10 feet wide. Some rations, water jugs, fishing nets, crabs, diesel and mattresses were found on board, This was the fifth such incident in the past three months. The sea route was used by the terror attackers to wreak havoc in Mumbai in the 26/11 assault, and this lent credibility to the input. No militants have been traced so far, sources said.
Allaying fears, Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel said: “All necessary measures have been taken, there is nothing to worry.”
“We hope that the Indian authorities are able to reciprocate this,” Pakistani interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said while adding that Pakistan was serious about countering terrorism and improving cooperation with India.
The dialogue process between the two countries at the foreign secretary-level has been stalled for some months now as the Indian side awaits concrete measures from Pakistan in nabbing the culprits behind the attack on the Pathankot air base which came within days of prime minister Narendra Modi paying a surprise visit to Lahore and wishing prime minister Nawaz Sharif a ”very happy birthday.”
Pak security team coming
Meanwhile, a security team comprising- Director FIA Usman Anwar and Col. Azam from Pakistan”s ministry of interior will arrive here on Monday to assess the situation ahead of the cricket team”s visit there for the upcoming ICC World Twenty20 event. The visit has assumed significance as the Himachal Pradesh government has
refused to provide security for the India-Pakistan match at Dharamsala citing the terror attack on the Pathankot air base. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has said that the match should be moved to another venue out of respect for the “martyrs” killed in the assault by militants.
According to a statement from the Pakistan Interior ministry, the team will meet the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister and the state police chief and will prepare a report which will be sent to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar,
The team will hold meetings with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and will also meet senior Indian security officials to ensure security for the Pakistan team
