ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI: India said Thursday that Pakistan's apprehension of members of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militant group, accused of mounting a terrorist attack on the Pathankot airbase, is an "important and positive first step".
In a press conference in New Delhi, spokesman for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs Vikas Swarup said that India welcomes the statement issued by the Pakistani government on investigations into the Pathankot terrorist attack.
He said that the India government had also noted the apprehension of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) members in Pakistan, and called the Pakistani government's action against Jaish "an important and positive first step".
"We also note that the government of Pakistan is considering to send a special investigation team to India. We look forward to the visit of the Pakistani SIT...and our agencies will extend all necessary cooperation to bring the perpetrators of the attack to justice," he said.
He said that the Indian foreign secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar spoke to his Pakistani counterpart earlier today, and both "agreed to reschedule their talks in the very near future".
Earlier today, the Pakistani Foreign Office announced that talks between the foreign secretaries will not take place on January 15 (Friday) as earlier scheduled.
The foreign office spokesman said that Pakistan is in contact with India for new dates for the proposed talks between Pakistan's foreign secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Islamabad.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's office had announced in a statement on Friday that the government had made "considerable progress" in investigating the Pathankot attack, and that it wanted to send a team of special investigators to the Pathankot air base in India.
The statement also said that several members of the Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group had been detained, and that the offices of the organization were being traced and sealed.