Pakistan accuses India of engaging in blame game over Pathankot

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan today accused India of engaging in an "unhelpful" blame game over the Pathankot terror attack and said cooperation and understanding were needed to take the investigation forward.

During a weekly news briefing here, Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said cooperation and understanding is the need of the hour to take the investigation into Pathankot incident forward.

Commenting on the Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar statement accusing Pakistan of the attack, he said blame game on the part of India is "unfortunate" and "unhelpful", Radio Pakistan reported.

Parrikar on Tuesday told the Rajya Sabha that the terror attack on the air force base in Punjab's Pathankot was carried out by Pakistan's "non-state actors" who operate with the support of the Pakistani establishment.

Zakaria said a Joint Investigation Team has been formed and modalities are being worked out for its visit to India to probe the matter.

He said Pakistan has denounced terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and believes all nations need to collaborate with each other to defeat this menace.

To a question, the spokesperson said Pakistan and India are working on the dates for the Foreign Secretary-level talks.

Responding to another question, the Spokesperson said Pakistan's nuclear arsenals are only meant to deter any aggression against its territorial integrity.